Novel organogel harnessing Excited-State Intramolecular Proton Transfer process with aggregation induced emission and photochromism

• Two salicylideneanilines bearing with cholesterol were synthesized.
• T1 and T2 showed aggregation-induced emission harnessing ESIPT process.
• T2 could gelate in cyclohexane exhibiting enhanced emission both in gel and solid states.
• T2 showed photochromic behavior both in gel and solid states under UV-light irradiation.

Two novel aggregation-induced emission compounds harnessing Excited-State Intramolecular Proton Transfer process based on salicylideneaniline derived from tetraphenylethylene and cholesterol moieties were synthesized and characterized. One of the compounds could gelate in cyclohexane exhibiting gelation-induced enhanced emission and the emission intensities can be reversibly changed with the gel-solution transition by alternate cooling and heating. Moreover, this compound showed photochromic behavior both in gel and solid states under UV light irradiation due to the loose packing of the molecules and permitting the molecule to rotate, which may be a potential candidate for external stimuli-responsive materials through tuning the self-assembly process of the functional gelator.