Facile fabrication of luminescent polymeric nanoparticles containing dynamic linkages via a one-pot multicomponent reaction: Synthesis, aggregation-induced emission and biological imaging

Luminescent polymeric nanoparticles (LPNs) with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) feature have emerged as the most promising candidates for biological imaging owing to their unique AIE feature, great water dispersity, strong fluorescence, low cytotoxicity and biocompatibility. Although numerous successful strategies for construction of AIE-active LPNs have been developed, the preparation of dynamic linkages containing AIE-active LPNs based on multicomponent reactions has been rarely reported. In this work, we report a facile method for the formation of AIE-active LPNs via a one-pot conjugation of PEG-B(OH)₂, 1-thioglycerol and AIE-active dye PhE-alc in short time under rather mild reaction conditions (e.g. ambient temperature, air atmosphere, absent of metal catalysts and in the present of water). The successful formation of AIE-active mPEG-PhE LPNs was confirmed by different characterization techniques in details. The great optical and biological properties certified their applicable for biological imaging application. More importantly, the novel method for the formation of AIE-active LPNs is rather simple, high efficiency and atom economy, which greatly enriched their practical biomedical applications. - Graphical abstract: A facile one-pot strategy based on the formation of dynamic bonds has been developed for the fabrication of luminescent polymeric nanoparticles with aggregation-induced emission feature. - Highlights: • Aggregation-induced emission luminescent polymeric nanoparticles • A one-pot multicomponent reaction • AIE-active LPNs containing dynamic linkages • The AIE-active LPNs are promising for biomedical applications.