Visible and near IR emitting organic nanoparticles of aromatic fumaronitrile core-based donor–acceptor compounds

A class of five compounds (1–5) having aromatic fumaronitrile as electron acceptor, phenylacetylene as linker and carbazole, indole, or diphenylamine moieties as electron donors, has successfully formed fluorescent organic nanoparticles (FONs) in THF/water mixtures. FONs formed from these compounds emit from the visible region to the near IR region. The fluorescence intensity of compound 1 is increased by 19 times upon the formation of nanoparticles compared to its THF solution. A large Stokes shift of 256 nm has been observed during the formation of nanoparticles of compound 4. The potential application of these FONs in dye sensitized solar cells, optoelectronic device fabrication, and biomedical imaging is under assessment.