Reversible piezofluorochromic nature and mechanism of aggregation-induced emission-active compounds based on simple modification

Simple modification of triphenylamine generates four luminophores with aggregation-induced emission characteristics. Three of them can be smartly switched in fluorescence emissions by various external stimuli such as grinding, annealing and solvent-fuming, which may be attributed to the transformation from the crystalline state to the amorphous state and vice versa.