A modular “beads-on-a-string” acridine-based copolymer for protonation-gated fluorescence switching and logic operations

2026-04-28

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Bing Zeng

Minglin Liu

Tingting Hou

Dehui Zheng

Zihang Yang

Tanveer Ahmed

Maruf S.M. Ul Haque

Yingcong Liang

Sergio Tarabella Marchesi

Yi Jin

Jie Ma

Yue Zhang

Kamel Meguellati *

DOI：10.1016/j.jphotochem.2026.117285

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• Modular Polymer Architecture: A “beads-on-a-string” polyetherification-derived copolymer was successfully synthesized, integrating diphenyl ether donors and acridine acceptors via flexible glycol linkers. • Dual-Mode Optical Switching: The system achieves high-contrast fluorescence “turn-on” by coupling the suppression of Photoinduced Electron Transfer (PET) with the activation of Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE). • Solvent-Dependent Performance: DMSO was identified as the optimal solvating medium for high-fidelity signal enhancement, significantly outperforming dichloromethane (DCM) in emission intensity and stability. • Reversible INHIBIT Logic: The polymer functions as a chemically addressable INHIBIT logic gate with robust reversibility over multiple acid/base cycles and a precise 1:1 binding stoichiometry. • Tunable Biphasic Response: Fluorescence titrations revealed a unique bell-shaped intensity profile, enabling concentration-tunable signaling based on the balance of protonation and aggregation.

Keywords:

acridine-based copolymer

fluorescence switching

protonation-gated response

INHIBIT logic gate

aggregation-induced emission

A modular “beads-on-a-string” acridine-based copolymer for protonation-gated fluorescence switching and logic operations

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