Consideration of Molecular Structure in the Excited State to Design New Luminogens with Aggregation-Induced Emission.

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) is a photoluminescence phenomenon in which an AIE luminogen (AIEgen) exhibits intense emission in the aggregated or solid state but only weak or no emission in the solution state. Understanding the mechanism of AIE requires consideration of excited state molecular geometry (for example, a π twist). This Minireview examines the history of AIEgens with a focus on the representative AIEgen, tetraphenylethylene (TPE). The mechanisms of solution-state quenching are reviewed and the crucial role of excited-state molecular transformations for AIE is discussed. Finally, recent progress in understanding the relationship between excited state molecular transformations and AIE is overviewed for a range of different AIEgens.