Rational design and synthesis of yellow-light emitting triazole fluorophores with AIE and mechanochromic properties

Previously, we reported that N-2-aryl triazoles (NATs) exhibited good fluorescence activity in the UV/blue light range. In an effort to achieve biocompetitive NAT fluorophores with green/yellow emission, a new class of 4-keto-2-(4′-N,N-diphenyl)-phenyl triazoles were designed and synthesized. Herein, we present our study on these novel fluorophores which demonstrated excellent luminescence emission both in solution (Φ up to 96%) and in the solid state (Φ up to 43%). Furthermore, these new compounds showed aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties and reversible mechanochromic luminescence properties, which suggested their potential applications in chemical and materials science.