Herein, we describe a novel strategy developed for aggregation-induced emission (AIE)/aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) based on the subtle balance of mild electron-donating/-accepting substituents. The new approach eliminates the need to use bulky and flexible groups that are usually responsible for AIE and ACQ. The obtained regioisomers exhibit the same crystal packing but extremely different behavior upon aggregation, leading to the extremely bright aggregates of the compounds being dark in solution and vice versa. Such an approach opens a way to explore a new method of controlling small molecules’ AIE/ACQ behavior.

中文翻译：

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AIE 和 ACQ 之间的拓扑切换：取代基的平衡

在此，我们描述了一种基于温和给电子/接受取代基的微妙平衡而开发的聚集诱导发射（AIE）/聚集引起猝灭（ACQ）的新策略。新方法消除了使用通常负责 AIE 和 ACQ 的庞大且灵活的组的需要。获得的区域异构体表现出相同的晶体堆积，但在聚集时表现出截然不同的行为，导致化合物的极其明亮的聚集体在溶液中呈黑色，反之亦然。这种方法为探索控制小分子 AIE/ACQ 行为的新方法开辟了道路。