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A multisite-binding fluorescence turn-on probe of Rh6G NH PBA has been prepared in this study. The probe selectively responds to mitochondrion adenosine triphosphate (ATP) concentrations. The fluorescence intensity of Rh6G NH PBA toward ATP was enhanced by approximately 51-fold in water at 1.0 mM. In particular, Rh6G NH PBA exhibited good selectivity to ATP, surpassing other anions due to a cooperative effect from multisite-binding recognition. Live-cell imaging indicates that Rh6G NH PBA locates mainly into mitochondria with good biocompatibility. The results demonstrate that Rh6G NH PBA is a useful probe for the monitoring of mitochondria ATP-relevant processes.

Benefiting from the high binding affinity of 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(p-benzoic acid) pyrene (H4TBAPy) with three different amines (urea, melamine (MA) and terminal amino hyperbranched polymer (HP)), H4TBAPy produced self-assemblies with various morphologies, such as small flower-like, long fibers, three-dimensional (3D) flower shape and banana-like etc. Fluorescence spectra, dynamic light scattering (DLS), optical micrographs (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to monitor the self-assembly process and characterize the resultant assemblies. It was found that the π-π stacking of the planar aromatic pyrene core of H4TBAPy, electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonding (H-bonding) interactions between the carboxylic acid group (-COOH) of H4TBAPy and the amino group of urea, MA, HP were the main driving forces for the self-assembly processes. This work may provide a powerful method to construct well-defined nanostructures with different morphologies by non-covalent interactions of two components.