Very recently, aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and two-photon (TP) emission materials have attracted great attention owing to their widespread applications. Herein, interestingly, we described a unique single fluorophore core with different substituents that can show either outstanding AIE or TP fluorescence properties. The introduction of an electron donating unit such as a tertiary amine group on the phenanthrenequinone imidazole core afforded a novel AIE-based fluorescent material PIN. The optical studies of PIN revealed that appropriate structural modifications on the phenanthrenequinone imidazole core could result in AIE character. On the other hand, modification of an electron-withdrawing moiety such as an indolium moiety on the same phenanthrenequinone imidazole-core provided a new material PID, which exhibited favorable TP emission, indicating that phenanthrenequinone imidazole derivatives could be exploited as TP materials. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that the novel AIE or TP materials constructed herein can be successfully applied for sensing targets of interest in aqueous and biological settings owing to their highly desirable emission profiles. The intriguing finding that careful modification of the phenanthrenequinone imidazole scaffold could afford excellent AIE or TP materials may open a new avenue to engineer robust materials with diverse properties based on a versatile core for various applications.

中文翻译：

---

独特的菲醌咪唑基荧光材料，具有聚集诱导或双光子发射

最近，聚集诱导发射（AIE）和双光子（TP）发射材料由于其广泛的应用而引起了极大的关注。在这里，有趣的是，我们描述了具有不同取代基的独特的单个荧光团核心，可以显示出出色的AIE或TP荧光特性。在菲醌咪唑核心上引入供电子单元例如叔胺基团，提供了一种新型的基于AIE的荧光材料PIN。PIN的光学研究表明，菲醌咪唑核心上的适当结构修饰可能会导致AIE特征。另一方面，在同一菲醌咪唑核上的吸电子部分（如吲哚部分）的修饰提供了一种新的材料PID，该材料显示出良好的TP发射，表明菲醌咪唑衍生物可以用作TP材料。此外，我们已经证明，本文构建的新型AIE或TP材料由于具有高度理想的发射特性，因此可以成功应用于感测水性和生物环境中的目标靶标。有趣的发现是，菲醌醌咪唑支架的仔细修饰可以提供优异的AIE或TP材料，这可能为基于各种应用的通用型芯而设计出具有多种特性的坚固材料开辟了一条新途径。我们已经证明，由于其高度期望的发射曲线，本文构建的新型AIE或TP材料可以成功地用于感测在水和生物环境中感兴趣的靶标。有趣的发现是，菲醌醌咪唑支架的仔细修饰可以提供优异的AIE或TP材料，这可能为基于各种应用的通用型芯而设计出具有多种特性的坚固材料开辟了一条新途径。我们已经证明，由于其高度期望的发射曲线，本文构建的新型AIE或TP材料可以成功地用于感测在水和生物环境中感兴趣的靶标。有趣的发现是，菲醌醌咪唑支架的仔细修饰可以提供优异的AIE或TP材料，这可能为基于各种应用的通用型芯而设计出具有多种特性的坚固材料开辟了一条新途径。