'Aggregation induced emission' active iridium(III) complexes with applications in mitochondrial staining

Abstract

Two new bis-cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes, [Ir(F2ppy)2(L)] and [Ir(ppy)2(L)], where F2ppy 1⁄4 2-(20,40- difluoro)phenylpyridine, ppy 1⁄4 2-phenylpyridine and L 1⁄4 1,2-((pyridin-2-ylimino)methyl)phenol, have been designed and synthesized by a convenient route. We have univocally characterized their structure by 1H NMR, 19F NMR, HRMS and SXRD. Both complexes exhibit strong 'Aggregation Induced Emission (AIE)' activity, which has been investigated using spectroscopy measurements, ab initio quantum chemical calculations and by analysing their crystal packing. One of the complexes has been shown to have a potential application as a non-toxic bio-imaging probe for mitochondrial staining.