[Southeast University News Network, April 2] (Correspondent: Cao Qin) Recently, Dr. Chen Xuman, a young teacher from School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Southeast University, published an academic paper titled “Efficient Near-Infrared Emissive Artificial Supramolecular Light-Harvesting System for Imaging in Golgi Apparatus” in the international top journal “Angewandte Chemie”.

The process of light capture, as a step of capturing, converting and utilizing natural lights, is the first and also a very important process in plant photosynthesis. Constructing an artificial light capture system is of great significance for the utilization of light energy, however, great challenges are still available currently in constructing an efficient artificial light capture system.

The research team of Southeast University utilized the “calixarene-induced aggregation” strategy to design and synthesize the amphiphilic sulfonated calixarene and the cationic naphthyl pyridine derivatives as the fluorescent donors for self-assembly in aqueous solutions, and introduced Nile blue as the fluorescent acceptor molecule. Finally, a near-infrared artificial light capturing system was successfully constructed. Upon further researches, the team found that such system still maintained high light capturing efficiency and high stability in the cells; meanwhile, the team also proved the system’s selectivity for Golgi staining. This research functions as an important impetus for studying artificial supramolecular light capturing system in sensing, imaging and diagnosis.

The first author of this article is Chen Xuman, a young teacher from School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Southeast University, and Southeast University is the first correspondence institution.

Paper’s link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.202003427

Submitted by: the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering