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Carbazole Engineering in D-A-D Molecules to Improve the NIR-II Performance for Tumor Micrometastasis Imaging

Fang, Le; Ai, Rui; Sandoval-Salinas, Maria Eugenia; Tan, Lei; Liu, Chun; Wen, Qiang; Tang, Huarong; ... Fang, Xiaohong; + view all (2025) Carbazole Engineering in D-A-D Molecules to Improve the NIR-II Performance for Tumor Micrometastasis Imaging. Nano Letters , 25 (23) pp. 9433-9440. 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c02001.

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Abstract

It is important to image tumor micrometastases in fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS), which requires highly emissive materials with a high signal-to-background ratio. As one type of bright NIR-II dye, donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) molecules have been widely applied for in vivo imaging. However, the brightness of D-A-D molecules when encapsulated in nanoparticles for bioimaging is often unsatisfactory due to aggregation-caused quenching or a decrease in absorption. In this study, we introduced carbazole groups in the D-A-D molecules, which resulted in a reduction of fluorescence quenching in the aggregated state due to the larger intermolecular distance. Through proper engineering of the carbazole groups, the emission spectra of the nanoparticles could be red-shifted with a peak beyond 1000 nm, while maintaining strong absorption and high quantum yield. The brightest TBTC-4 nanoparticles were successfully applied for tumor micrometastasis imaging in mice, with metastases as small as 0.5 mm diameter, which demonstrates their promising clinical application in FGS.

Type: Article
Title: Carbazole Engineering in D-A-D Molecules to Improve the NIR-II Performance for Tumor Micrometastasis Imaging
Location: United States
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c02001
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.5c02001
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
Keywords: NIR-II imaging, tumor micrometastasis, D−A−D molecules, carbazole derivatives
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Chemistry
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10210373
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