Synthesis of cross-shaped conjugated oligoelectrolyte and application for cell imaging

A cross-shaped conjugated oligoelectrolyte with spiro-fluorene as the core and anionic fluorenes as arms is obtained through bromination and Suzuki coupling reactions. The oligoelectrolyte can dissolve in the PBS well and possess a relatively high quantum yield (47%) in water. Since the electrolyte contains the hydrophobic conjugated gene, it has the ability to self-assembly when dissolving in water. Results after the electron microscopy images and dynamic light scattering show that the oligoelectrolyte (SFACOONa) can form nanoparticles in 10 mM PBS with an average diameter of 15nm.MTT results show that these nanoparticles have low cytotoxicity and can penetrate into the cell easily. Thus, these nanoparticles can be used in bioimaging and other clinical applications.