Bile acid-terpyridine conjugates: Steroidal skeleton controlled AIE effect and metal-tunable fluorescence and supramolecular assembly properties

Herein, a series of conjugates combining bile acid and terpyridine units were developed. Based on the unique rigid skeleton and excellent amphiphilicity of bile acid fragment, the aggregation properties of three conjugates are finely regulated and the resulted aggregates can strongly confine and tune the rotation of terpyridine units to endow the three conjugates with excellent different AIE properties. Furthermore, with the excellent metal coordination properties, terpyridine units endow the conjugates with excellent metal response properties and lead to various colourful complexes. The supramolecular assembly morphology can also be well controlled by the metal ions . These biological conjugates with controllable AIE properties and metal tunable fluorescence and supramolecular assembly properties may provide a new avenue for the bioimaging and drug controllable delivery system.