A nonpolymeric highly emissive ESIPT organogelator with neither dendritic structures nor long alkyl/alkoxy chains

Abstract

A highly fluorescent excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) small molecular organic gelator based on 2-(2′-hydroxy)phenylbenzoxazole, N,N′-bis(4-(benzo[d]oxazol-2-yl)-3-hydroxyphenyl)-5-tert-butylisophthalamide, is developed in the present study. The ESIPT organogelator does not have a dendritic structure or long alkyl chains, but has a specific bent molecular structure. The intermolecular H-bonding (N–H⋯OC) between the J-aggregated dimers is the main driving force in the formation of the subsequent long-range one-dimensional assemblies in gel. The ESIPT gelator shows characteristics of aggregation-induced enhanced emission (AIEE). With its AIEE characteristics, ESIPT properties, simple and scalable fabrication of elongated nanobelts, as well as easy synthetic procedures, the versatile multifunctional fluorescent gelator has good prospects for future application in photoelectrical nanodevices.