Construction and regulation of imidazo[1,5-a]pyridines with AIE characteristics via iodine mediated Csp2−H or Csp−H amination

The widespread applications of aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) inspire the creation of AIEgens with novel structures and functionalities. In this work, we focused on the direct and efficient synthesis of a new type of AIEgens, imidazo[1,5-a]pyridicne derivatives, via iodine mediated cascade oxidative Csp2–H or Csp–H amination route from phenylacetylene or styrenes under mild conditions. The resulted compounds showed excellent AIE characteristics with tunable maximum emissions, attractive bioimaging performance, and potential anti-inflammatory activity, which exert broad application prospects in material, biology, medicine, and other relevant areas.