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By functionalizing various polyphenyl nuclei with ester groups, five kinds of polyphenyl benzoate based electrochromic materials (M1–M5) are synthesized and characterized. These materials show typical aggregation-induced emission and aggregation-enhanced emission in water/N-methylpyrrolidone, good electrochemical properties, and an obvious electrochromic phenomenon. In the process of electrochemical reduction, each material shows distinct and well-separated redox couples, the introduction of ester moieties makes electron transfer much easier compared to the polyphenyl nuclei, and the synergistic effect of the ester group and polyphenyl structure reduces the LUMO level of the corresponding polyphenyl benzoates. In contrast, the polyphenyl nuclei markedly affect their electrochromic properties, and the electrochromic devices based on M1–M5 exhibit five different colored states. By combining with density functional theory calculations, it is found that an appropriate amount of benzene rings in the central benzene cores (M2 and M4) can effectively improve the coloration efficiency, response time, and switching stability; fewer benzene rings in the central benzene core (M1) cannot achieve stable conjugation of the material in the reduced state, while an excess of benzene rings in the central benzene core (M5) leads to excessive molecular volume, and this will lead to space congestion and is not beneficial for electron transfer. The application of M1–M5 in multi-colored functional display devices is explored, indicating its potential application prospect in display fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel fluorescent sensor based on an asymmetric anthracene derivative (SSAPA) was designed and synthesized. Using this molecule, a rapid and sensitive assay for detecting Tb 3+ and ATP in aqueous solutions was established. The SSAPA molecule had excellent aggregation-induced emission (AIE) performance and good aqueous dispersion ability. This molecule could coordinate with Tb 3+ and the fluorescence quenched linearly with the increase in the concentration of Tb 3+ from 0.005 to 1.2 μM. Since both Tb 3+ and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) have strong binding ability, ATP can compete with Tb 3+ from the SSAPA/Tb 3+ complex leading to fluorescence recovery. In this way, a brand-new fluorescent "turn-on" assay for ATP in the range from 0.01 to 0.4 μM was developed using the Tb 3+ -based complex probe. The detection limits for Tb 3+ and ATP both reached single-digit nanomole per millilitre (2.8 nM and 4.5 nM, respectively), which demonstrated that this method has high sensitivity. Besides, Tb 3+ and ATP also could be well detected in other complex environments such as real water samples or serum samples. This study provides a feasible assay for detecting trace amounts of Tb 3+ and ATP in aqueous solutions.