NIR Light-Induced ATRP for Synthesis of Block Copolymers Comprising UV-Absorbing Moieties

NIR exposure at 790 nm activated photopolymerization of monomers comprising UV-absorbing moieties by using [Cu^II/(TPMA)]Br₂ (TPMA=tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine) in the ppm range and an alkyl bromide as initiator. Some of them comprised structural elements selected either from those showing proton transfer or photocycloaddition upon UV excitation. Polymers obtained comprise living end groups serving as macroinitiator for controlled synthesis of block copolymers with relatively narrow molecular weight distributions. Chromatographic results indicated formation of block copolymers produced by this synthetic approach. Free-radical polymerization of monomers pursued for comparison exhibited the expected broader dispersity of molecular weight compared to photo-ATRP. Polymerization of these monomers by UV photo-ATRP failed on the contrary to NIR photo-ATRP demonstrating the UV-filter function of the monomers. This work conclusively provides a new approach for the polymerization of monomers comprising UV-absorbing moieties through photo-ATRP in the NIR region. This occurred in a simple and efficient pathway. However, studies also showed that not all monomers chosen successfully proceeded in the NIR photo-ATRP protocol.     

Cyanine-Flavonol Hybrids for Near-Infrared Light-Activated Delivery of Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an endogenous signaling molecule that controls a number of physiological processes. To circumvent the inherent toxicity of CO, light-activated CO-releasing molecules (photoCORMs) have emerged as an alternative for its administration. However, their wider application requires photoactivation using biologically benign visible and near-infrared (NIR) light. In this work, a strategy to access such photoCORMs by fusing two CO-releasing flavonol moieties with a NIR-absorbing cyanine dye is presented. These hybrids liberate two molecules of CO in high chemical yields upon activation with NIR light up to 820 nm and exhibit excellent uncaging cross-sections, which surpass the state-of-the-art by two orders of magnitude. Furthermore, the biocompatibility and applicability of the system in vitro and in vivo are demonstrated, and a mechanism of CO release is proposed. It is hoped that this strategy will stimulate the discovery of new classes of photoCORMs and accelerate the translation of CO-based phototherapy into practice.     

Manipulating Host-Guest Charge Transfer of a Water-Soluble Double-Cavity Cyclophane for NIR-II Photothermal Therapy

Water-soluble small organic photothermal agents (PTAs) over NIR-II biowindow (1000–1350 nm) are highly desirable, but the rarity greatly limits their applications. Based on a water-soluble double-cavity cyclophane GBox-4⁴⁺ , we report a class of host–guest charge transfer (CT) complexes as structurally uniform PTAs for NIR-II photothermal therapy. As a result of its high electron-deficiency, GBox-4⁴⁺ can bind different electron-rich planar guests with a 1 : 2 host/guest stoichiometry to readily tune the CT absorption band that extends to the NIR-II region. When using a diaminofluorene guest substituted with an oligoethylene glycol chain, the host–guest system realized both good biocompatibility and enhanced photothermal conversion at 1064 nm, and was then exploited as a high-efficiency NIR-II PTA for cancer cell and bacterial ablation. This work broadens the potential applications of host–guest cyclophane systems and provides a new access to bio-friendly NIR-II photoabsorbers with well-defined structures.     

Near-infrared Responsive Photoelectrochemical Biosensors

Near-infrared (NIR) light-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensing is a highly promising analytical technique, especially for in situ bioanalysis, due to the deep penetration capability and minimal invasiveness of NIR light. In this mini review, we provide a brief overview of recently developed NIR PEC sensors, focusing on NIR light-responsive materials and the representative applications of this type of PEC sensor. Future perspectives for NIR PEC sensors are also described.     

近红外荧光探针检测金属离子、小分子和生物大分子

荧光探针技术是近年来发展迅速的一种荧光分析方法,具有灵敏度高、选择性好、操作简便和响应迅速等特点,受到环境及生命科学领域的青睐。随着荧光探针技术的发展,近红外一区荧光探针由于具有发射波长长(600~900 nm)、对细胞损伤小、组织穿透性强和自发荧光背景低等优点,被广泛应用于细胞、组织等复杂生物体系中生物分子的检测、示踪及成像。本文评述了近年来(2016~2020年)近红外荧光探针对金属离子(Hg²⁺、Cu²⁺、Zn²⁺、Al³⁺、Fe³⁺)、生物小分子(Cys、N₂H₄、H₂S、H₂O₂)与生物大分子(亮氨酸氨基肽酶、β-半乳糖苷酶)等重要生物分子的检测及成像的研究进展,讨论了该类探针在细胞及活体的分析应用,并对近红外荧光探针的前景进行了展望。     

镧系离子掺杂的近红外复合光催化剂的合成研究进展

近红外光能量占太阳能的44%,但是传统半导体光催化剂难以利用近红外光,因此制备近红外光催化剂是近几年来的研究热点。本文阐述了镧系离子掺杂的近红外光催化剂催化的基本原理,综述了镧系离子掺杂上转换纳米材料/半导体复合近红外光催化剂的合成方法及特点,重点介绍了外延生长法,静电纺丝法与化学组装法。并对这些近红外光催化材料在光降解污染物和光解水领域的应用进行了总结并对其应用前景进行了展望。     

Dynamic Modulation of Enzyme Activity by Near-Infrared Light

Engineering near-infrared (NIR) light-sensitive enzymes remains a huge challenge. A photothermal effect-associated method is developed for tailoring the enzymatic activity of enzymes by exposure to NIR light. An ultrasmall platinum nanoparticle was anchored in an enzyme to generate local heating upon NIR irradiation, which enhanced the enzyme activity without increasing bulk temperature. Following NIR irradiation, the enzyme activity was tailored rapidly and reversibly, and was modulated by varying laser power density and irradiation time. Four enzymes were engineered, including glucoamylase, glucose oxidase, catalase, and proteinase K with NIR-light sensitivity, and demonstrated their utility in practical applications such as photolithography and NIR light-responsive antibacterial or anticancer actions. Our investigation suggests that this approach could be broadly used to engineer enzymes with NIR-light sensitivity for many biological applications.     

Unconventional Route to Uniform Hollow Semiconducting Nanoparticles with Tailorable Dimensions,Compositions, Surface Chemistry,and Near‐Infrared Absorption

Despite impressive recent advances in the synthesis of lead chalcogenide solid nanoparticles, there are no examples of lead chalcogenide hollow nanoparticles (HNPs) with controlled diameter and shell thickness as current synthetic approaches for HNPs have inherent limitations associated with their complexity, inability to precisely control the dimensions, and limited possibilities with regard to applicable materials. Herein, we report on an unconventional strategy for crafting uniform lead chalcogenide (PbS and PbTe) HNPs with tailorable size, surface chemistry, and near‐IR absorption. Amphiphilic star‐like triblock copolymers [polystyrene‐block‐poly(acrylic acid)‐block‐polystyrene and polystyrene‐block‐poly(acrylic acid)‐block‐poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene)] were rationally synthesized and exploited as nanoreactors for the formation of uniform PbS and PbTe HNPs. Compared to their solid counterparts, the near‐IR absorption of the HNPs is blue‐shifted owing to the hollow interior. This strategy can be readily extended to other types of intriguing low‐band‐gap HNPs for diverse applications.     

小分子基温敏聚合物纳米粒子的制备及在近红外二区荧光成像与光热治疗中的应用

以有机小分子4,9-二(5-9H-芴-2-基-噻吩-2-基)-6',7-联苯[1,2,5]噻二唑并[3,4-g]喹喔啉(TQF)为前驱体, 通过化学方法将其修饰为可引发可逆加成-断裂链转移聚合(RAFT)反应的小分子链转移剂TQF-苯基硫代链 转移剂（CTA）. 以TQF-CTA为链转移剂, 以偶氮二异丁腈为引发剂, 引发N-异丙基丙烯酰胺(NIPAAm)和 甲基丙烯酸寡聚乙二醇酯(OEGMA)发生RAFT聚合反应, 合成了具有良好水溶性和较低临界溶解温度(LCST)的小分子基共聚物[TQF-P(NIPAAm-co-OEGMA), TPNO]. 将其直接溶于水中可制备成温敏的球形纳米粒子 TPNO NPs. 研究结果表明, TPNO NPs在温度大于LCST(35 ℃)时表现出一个明显的粒径变化和显著的荧光 增强行为(2.2倍), 并成功实现了对活体小鼠血管与肿瘤的明亮近红外二区(NIR-Ⅱ)荧光成像(FI). 同时, TPNO NPs有着良好的光热转换效率(PCE=29.8%), 通过体外细胞实验证明了其对细胞具有较好的光热治疗(PTT)效果.     

Nd3+ Sensitized Fluorescent Nanoprobes for Vascular Imaging in the Second Near Infrared Window北大核心CSCD

In recent years,in comparison to the light in the visible range（400~700 nm）and first near-infrared window（NIR-Ⅰ,700~1000 nm）,the light in the second near-infrared window（NIR-Ⅱ,1000~ 1700 nm）possess the merits of the lowest optical scattering and absorption in the bio-tissue. So NIR-Ⅱ fluorescence imaging with deeper tissue penetration depths,high spatiotemporal resolution and signal to noise ratio（SNR）plays an important role in the fields of angiography,lymphangiography and so on. Herein, Nd3+ sensitized fluorescent nanoprobe （U/DNPs,NaGdF4 ∶Yb（18% mole fraction）,Ho（2%）,Ce（30%） @NaGdF4 ,Nd（60%）@NaGdF4 ,Nd（10%）） with core-shell-shell is synthesized through high-temperature coprecipitation and epitaxial growth method. Under the irradiation of 808 nm,the NIR-Ⅱ fluorescence at 1056 nm and 1332 nm are obtained via down-conversion process for further vascular imaging. Furthermore,it can emit red upconversion fluorescence with high red to green（R/G）ratio（I647 /I540 = 22. 6）,possessing greatly potential application for photodynamic therapy. After successful modification of polyvinyl pyrrolidone（PVP） via ligand-exchange strategy,the U/DNPs-PVP nanomaterials possess excellent solubility in water and good biocompatibility,and can achieve the NIR-Ⅱ fluorescence vessels imaging with spatial resolution of 336. 3 µμm in vivo. © 2022, Science Press (China). All rights reserved.