Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Christophe A. Ndamyabera, Nabanita Chatterjee, Clive L. Oliver, Susan A. Bourne
Summary: Two activated isostructural porous compounds were studied for adsorption performance, with one compound showing higher adsorption capacity.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Moon Chul Jung, John Facendola, Jongchan Kim, Daniel Sylvinson Muthiah Ravinson, Peter Djurovich, Stephen R. Forrest, Mark E. Thompson
Summary: The orientation of facial tris-cyclometalated iridium complexes in doped films can be controlled by altering the physical shape and electronic asymmetry in the molecular structure. Oblate iridium complexes have a net horizontal alignment in the thin films due to favorable van der Waals interaction with the host material, while chemical asymmetries introduced by substituents affect the oblate shapes and orientation of the molecules. The fluorinated patches in the substituted derivatives reinforce horizontal alignment during deposition, resulting in improved efficiency in organic light emitting diodes.
ADVANCED MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Guangzhao Lu, Zheng-Guang Wu, Ruixia Wu, Xiaosong Cao, Liang Zhou, You-Xuan Zheng, Chuluo Yang
Summary: This study successfully synthesized two green chiral iridium(III) isomers using R-camphor as a chiral resource, which exhibited excellent performance in circularly polarized phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes. By novel device engineering, the dissymmetry factor of circularly polarized electroluminescence signal was significantly boosted by one order of magnitude.
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yuqing Jiang, Yuhao Shi, Deping Hu, Qian Peng, Guangxi Huang, Bing Shi Li
Summary: Molecular structures, packings, and intermolecular interactions play a significant role in the photophysical properties of organic luminogens. Isomerization of substituent groups can affect molecular packing and intermolecular interactions, thus influencing the fluorescence and mechanoluminescence characteristics.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anastasia I. Solomatina, Daria O. Kozina, Vitaly V. Porsev, Sergey P. Tunik
Summary: In this study, four iridium complexes containing cyclometallated N^C ligand and various bidentate L^L ligands were synthesized and characterized. These complexes exhibit moderate to strong phosphorescence in the 550-670 nm range, with emission properties strongly dependent on pH. The complexes localize in lysosomes and acidified endosomes within living cells, demonstrating low toxicity.
Article
Chemistry, Applied
Chan Hee Ryu, Junseop Lim, Mingi Kim, Ilsup Shin, Jun Yeob Lee, Kang Mun Lee
Summary: Researchers have developed a blue-emitting iridium complex, IrTrz, based on a 1,2,4-triazole ligand, which exhibits stable blue emission, high thermal stability, and excellent electrochemical stability. Multilayer phosphorescent OLEDs using IrTrz as the blue emitter show low turn-on voltages and high external quantum efficiencies, with stable operational lifetimes exceeding 690 h.
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Chenggang Jiang, Louise M. Canada, Ngoc Bao Nguyen, Thomas S. Teets
Summary: This work describes the synthesis and characterization of a series of neutral Chugaev-type chelating dicarbene iridium complexes with different cyclometalating ligands. The effects of these ligands on the emission properties of the complexes are evaluated, and it is found that the complexes exhibit blue-shifted phosphorescence compared to previously described analogues. The study also investigates the electrochemical properties of the compounds and determines the dependence of HOMO and LUMO energies on the cyclometalating ligands.
JOURNAL OF ORGANOMETALLIC CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Kikuya Hayashi, Kei Fukasawa, Takashi Yamashita, Shuzo Hirata
Summary: In this study, we report a rational design of triplet sensitizers to achieve high-efficiency red afterglow emission at room temperature. By synthesizing sensitizer and acceptor molecules with different conjugated substituents, we found that the long conjugated substituent greatly enhanced the phosphorescence resonance energy transfer (PRET) from the sensitizer to the acceptor, resulting in improved yield of red afterglow emission at room temperature.
CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Rongji Zhu, Peiling Dai, Jun Yang, Jie Zhou, Jin Zhang, Kenneth Yin Zhang, Yonghua Li, Shujuan Liu, Kenneth Kam-Wing Lo, Qiang Zhao
Summary: In this study, dual-emissive iridium(III) complexes were developed to exhibit phosphorescence responses to copper(II) ions at a distinct wavelength from oxygen quenching. These complexes demonstrated colorimetric phosphorescence response in aqueous solutions under different copper(II) and oxygen conditions. In cellular imaging, the intensity and lifetime of green phosphorescence can be modulated by variation in oxygen concentration without affecting the response of red phosphorescence towards intracellular copper(II) ions.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Ling Chen, Xiao-Bin Dong, Hong-Yi Liao, Wei-Jie Zhang, Zong-Wen Mo, Hai-Ping Wang, Jia-Wen Ye, Xiao-Ming Chen
Summary: Ultralong phosphorescence of organic or coordination compounds has been a hot topic recently, and researchers have focused on the relationship between the lifetime and local rigidity of the molecules. This study presents a new strategy to regulate phosphorescence lifetime by controlling the long-range rigidity. By adjusting the rigidity of the framework, the lifetime of the phosphorescence can be tuned, while maintaining similar emission color.
CHEMISTRY OF MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Jian-Ce Jin, Yang-Peng Lin, Da-Yi Chen, Bing-Ye Lin, Ting-Hui Zhuang, Wen Ma, Liao-Kuo Gong, Ke-Zhao Du, Jiang Jiang, Xiao-Ying Huang
Summary: Three isomorphic ionic bismuth(III) halides with different phosphorescence quantum yields were synthesized, among which one exhibited the highest QY. The compounds possess X-ray scintillation properties and can be used to fabricate WLEDs.
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY FRONTIERS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
So-Yoen Kim, Jeong-Wan Yu, Sunghan Choi, Dae Won Cho, Chul Hoon Kim, Ho-Jin Son, Sang Ook Kang
Summary: The excited-state properties of metal-organic bichromophores were investigated by incorporating naphthalene and carbazole units into phenylimidazole ligand, and it was found that efficient phosphorescent emission of geometrically confined organic tethers was achieved through intramolecular energy transfer in the excited state.
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Swadhin Garain, Ashutosh Kumar Singh, Sebastian C. Peter, Subi J. George
Summary: A simple phthalimide phosphor derivative is reported, showing cyan emissive phosphorescence in thin films and orange-red emitting phosphorescence in the crystalline state. The presence of carbonyl group and bromine atom effectively increases the inter-system crossing and spin-orbit coupling efficiency, crucial for achieving efficient phosphorescence under ambient conditions.
MATERIALS RESEARCH BULLETIN
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Sophie A. Fitzgerald, Ellie N. Payce, Peter N. Horton, Simon J. Coles, Simon J. A. Pope
Summary: This study describes the synthesis and characterisation of eleven different 2-(thienyl)quinoxaline species with various functionalities. These species exhibit variable fluorescence properties in the visible region and can serve as cyclometalating agents for Ir(III) to form luminescent complexes.
DALTON TRANSACTIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Mozhgan Samandarsangari, Daria O. Kozina, Victor V. Sokolov, Anastasia D. Komarova, Marina V. Shirmanova, Ilya S. Kritchenkov, Sergey P. Tunik
Summary: In this study, new phosphorescent iridium complexes were synthesized with water-soluble and biocompatible properties. The major photophysical characteristics were determined by two cyclometallating ligands based on 2-pyridine-benzothiophene. The use of various diimine ligands influenced the quantum yield of phosphorescence and the sensitivity to oxygen. The complexes demonstrated low toxicity and good water solubility.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Angela Sin-Yee Law, Lawrence Cho-Cheung Lee, Kenneth Kam-Wing Lo, Vivian Wing-Wah Yam
Summary: In this study, a novel luminescence assay based on platinum(II) complexes was introduced to detect RNA and achieve nucleolus imaging. The noncovalent interactions between platinum(II) complexes and RNA were induced by introducing a guanidinium group, resulting in strong RNA affinity and remarkable luminescence turnon. The unique properties of platinum(II) complexes, including low-energy red luminescence and large Stokes shifts, make them promising for nucleolus imaging with high signal-to-background ratios and potential biological applications.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Alex Man-Hei Yip, Calvin Kin-Ho Lai, Ken Shek-Man Yiu, Kenneth Kam-Wing Lo
Summary: 1,2,4,5-tetrazine functions as both a bioorthogonal reactive unit and a luminescence quencher, making it a desirable candidate for luminogenic labeling in living systems. This study synthesized and characterized three cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes with two tetrazine units, which exhibited high reaction kinetics towards specific substrates, allowing effective peptide labeling. These complexes were also applied for live cell bioimaging and photocytotoxicity, and one of them was used to prepare luminescent nanosized hydrogels with interesting cargo delivery properties.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Lawrence Cho-Cheung Lee, Kenneth Kam-Wing Lo
Summary: There has been a growing interest in utilizing the photophysical and photochemical properties of transition metal complexes for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. This Perspective highlights the recent advances in developing luminescent and photofunctional transition metal complexes, particularly those of rhenium(I), ruthenium(II), osmium(II), iridium(III), and platinum(II) as bioimaging reagents and phototherapeutic agents. The focus is on molecular design strategies that harness and modulate the interesting photophysical and photochemical behavior of these complexes. The current challenges and future outlook of transition metal complexes for both fundamental research and clinical applications are also discussed.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Lawrence Cho-Cheung Lee, Kenneth Kam-Wing Lo
Summary: The rapid development of responsive fluorescent probes has advanced optical imaging for biological research and biomedical applications. Activity-based sensing is a promising strategy for the development of responsive probes for selective molecular imaging. Luminescent transition metal complexes have remarkable photophysical behavior and have been widely used for bioimaging and biosensing applications, especially as activity-based probes for detecting chemical species and bioactive molecules.
CHEMISTRY-AN ASIAN JOURNAL
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Lawrence Cho-Cheung Lee, Lili Huang, Peter Kam-Keung Leung, Kenneth Kam-Wing Lo
Summary: Peptides are ideal for diagnostic and therapeutic applications due to their small size, ease of synthesis, high affinity, and low immunogenicity. Photofunctional transition metal complexes have gained significant interest as cellular probes, bioimaging reagents, and therapeutic agents, owing to their unique photophysical and photochemical properties. This review summarizes recent advances in the development of photofunctional transition metal-peptide conjugates for bioimaging and therapeutic applications, with a focus on their cellular uptake, intracellular localization, and cytotoxic activity. The challenges and future prospects of these conjugates as diagnostic and therapeutic tools are also discussed.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Editorial Material
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Kenneth Kam-Wing Lo
Summary: Inorganic chemistry research in Hong Kong has made impressive progress and gained worldwide recognition. This Guest Editorial introduces the research conducted in seven universities: City University of Hong Kong (CityU), The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), The University of Hong Kong (HKU), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU).
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Justin Shum, Lawrence Cho-Cheung Lee, Michael Wai-Lun Chiang, Yun-Wah Lam, Kenneth Kam-Wing Lo
Summary: This article reports a novel targeting strategy that combines an enzyme-instructed self-assembly (EISA) moiety and a strained cycloalkyne to create bioorthogonal sites in cancer cells. These sites can serve as triggers for activation of transition metal-based probes, specifically new ruthenium(II) complexes with a tetrazine unit, enabling controllable phosphorescence and singlet oxygen generation. The study also demonstrates that the hydrophobic regions provided by the large supramolecular assemblies further enhance the environment-sensitive emission of the complexes, making them highly advantageous for biological imaging. Additionally, the (photo)cytotoxicity of the large supramolecular assemblies containing the complexes was investigated, with results showing that cellular localization (extracellular and intracellular) significantly impacts the efficiency of the photosensitizers.
ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION
(2023)
Editorial Material
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Stefanie Dehnen, Jonathan W. Steed, Kenneth Lo, Katja Heinze, Oliver S. Wenger, Shalini Singh, Hai-Bo Yang, Shuang-Quan Zang
CRYSTAL GROWTH & DESIGN
(2023)
Editorial Material
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Stefanie Dehnen, Jonathan W. Steed, Kenneth Lo, Katja Heinze, Oliver S. Wenger, Shalini Singh, Hai-Bo Yang, Shuang-Quan Zang
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Lijuan Hua, Kenneth Yin Zhang, Hua-Wei Liu, Kin-Shing Chan, Kenneth Kam-Wing Lo
Summary: We report the design, synthesis, and characterisation of a series of luminescent iridium(iii) porphyrin complexes. The complexes exhibited long-lived near-infrared (NIR) emission and showed cytotoxic activity towards HeLa cells. Cellular uptake studies indicated that the cationic complexes had higher uptake efficiency. Additionally, a carboxyl complex was used to label a model protein and showed similar photophysical properties and intracellular localization behavior.
DALTON TRANSACTIONS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Guang-Xi Xu, Lawrence Cho-Cheung Lee, Peter Kam-Keung Leung, Eunice Chiu-Lam Mak, Justin Shum, Kenneth Yin Zhang, Qiang Zhao, Kenneth Kam-Wing Lo
Summary: In this study, a bioorthogonal dissociative photosensitizer based on rhenium(i) polypyridine complexes was designed for the controlled induction of immunogenic cell death. The photosensitizer exhibited increased emission intensities and singlet oxygen generation efficiencies upon reaction with trans-cyclooct-4-enol, leading to enhanced cytotoxic activity towards tumor cells and the induction of a cascade of biological effects including lysosomal dysfunction, autophagy suppression, and immunogenic cell death.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Lili Huang, Peter Kam-Keung Leung, Lawrence Cho-Cheung Lee, Guang-Xi Xu, Yun-Wah Lam, Kenneth Kam-Wing Lo
Summary: We report the development of near-infrared (NIR)-emitting cyclometallated iridium(iii) complexes containing a heteroaromatic methylsulfone moiety as sulfhydryl-specific reagents. One of the complexes was conjugated to cysteine and cysteine-containing peptides and proteins for bioimaging and photocytotoxic applications.
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jing-Hui Zhu, Guang-Xi Xu, Justin Shum, Lawrence Cho-Cheung Lee, Kenneth Kam-Wing Lo
Summary: The luminescent cyclometallated iridium(iii) complexes with a polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) unit were designed as efficient theranostic agents, displaying tunable organelle-targeting properties, minimal dark cytotoxicity, and substantial photocytotoxicity even under hypoxic conditions.
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Peter Kam-Keung Leung, Lawrence Cho-Cheung Lee, Tiffany Ka-Yan Ip, Hua-Wei Liu, Shek-Man Yiu, Nikki P. Lee, Kenneth Kam-Wing Lo
Summary: The study introduces novel luminescent rhenium(i) perfluorobiphenyl complexes that react specifically with the cysteine residue of the pi-clamp sequence (FCPF), leading to the development of peptide-based imaging reagents, photosensitizers for singlet oxygen, and enzyme sensors.
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Review
Chemistry, Inorganic & Nuclear
Guang-Xi Xu, Eunice Chiu-Lam Mak, Kenneth Kam-Wing Lo
Summary: Transition metal complexes (TMCs) have been extensively studied for biological applications, acting as sensors and imaging reagents, and serving as photosensitizers for phototherapy. Future research will focus on the development of TMCs for new diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY FRONTIERS
(2021)