Fluorination Enhances NIR-II Emission and Photothermal Conversion Efficiency of Phototheranostic Agents for Imaging-Guided Cancer Therapy.

Chunbin Li, Guoyu Jiang, Jia Yu, Weiwei Ji, Lingxiu Liu, Pengfei Zhang, Jian Du, Chuanlang Zhan, Jianguo Wang, Ben Zhong Tang

Journal: Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) 2023;35(3):e2208229

PMID: 36300808

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Abstract

Phototheranostics with second near-infrared (NIR-II) imaging and photothermal effect have become a burgeoning biotechnology for tumor diagnosis and precise treatment. As important parameters of phototheranostic agents (PTAs), fluorescence quantum yield (QY) and photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE) are usually considered as a pair of contradictions that is difficult to be simultaneously enhanced. Herein, a fluorination strategy for designing A-D-A type PTAs with synchronously improved QY and PCE is proposed. Experimental results show that the molar extinction coefficient (ε), NIR-II QY, and PCE of all fluorinated PTAs nanoparticles (NPs) are definitely improved compared with the chlorinated counterparts. Theoretical calculation results demonstrate that fluorination can maximize the electrostatic potential difference by virtue of the high electronegativity of fluorine, which may increase intra/intermolecular D-A interactions, tighten molecule packing, and further promote the increase of ε, ultimately leading to simultaneously enhanced QY and PCE. In these PTA NPs, FY6-NPs display NIR-II emission extended to 1400 nm with the highest NIR-II QY (4.2%) and PCE (80%). These features make FY6-NPs perform well in high-resolution imaging of vasculature and NIR-II imaging-guided photothermal therapy (PTT) of tumors. This study develops a valuable guideline for constructing NIR-II organic PTAs with high performance.

Address: College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Fine Organic Synthesis, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010021, P. R. China.; Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nanomedicine, CAS-HK Joint Lab of Biomaterials, Shenzhen Engineering Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Nanoformulations, CAS Key Laboratory of Health Informatics, Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, 518055, P. R. China.; Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, 250000, P. R. China.; Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials Chemistry and Devices (AMC&DLab) of the Department of Education of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, College of Chemistry and Environmental Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot, 010022, P. R. China.; Shenzhen Institute of Aggregate Science and Technology, School of Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518172, P. R. China.

DOI: 10.1002/adma.202208229