TpOx-B15C5 is a UV excitable fluorescent material with a polycyclic aromatic donor-acceptor structure where the triphenoxazole core acts as a donor and the aromatic group on the two position of the oxazole (Benzo-15-crown-5) act as the acceptor group. The push-pull, donor-acceptor, structure facilitates intramolecular charge transfer in the excited state that results in a 187 nm emission Stokes Shift. TpOx-B15C5 is designed for 355 nm excitation with emission at 457 nm with quantum yield of 0.43 and undergo fluorescent modulation upon binding metal cations in an appended crown ether moiety. TpOx-B15C5 has potential uses in metal cation sensing, fluorescent dye staining, organic electronic and photonics, and imaging applications.

Fluorescent materials have a range of unique properties that allows for potential use in a range of applications:

• Metal cation sensing

TpOx-B15C5 undergo fluorescent modulation upon binding metal cations in an appended crown ether moiety. TpOxB15C5 shows binding with Li⁺, K⁺ and Mg²⁺.

• Fluorescent dye staining

UV fluorescent materials can be used to dope polymer and resin composites, including 3D applications, and further identified using fluorescence emission.

• Organic semiconductor for organic electronic and photonic applications

These organic discotic liquid crystals display columnar hexagonal mesophase, and were incorporated into OPV device as a hole transport layer and donor material. Similar compounds have been used in organic light emitting devices (OLEDs), organic photovoltaic device (OPVs) and organic field-effect transistor (OFETs) as hole transport material.

• Multi-photon microscopy

These UV fluorescent materials have been used in multi-photon microscopy, showing remarkable image resolution relative to commercial fluorophores in the multiphoton microscopy imaging. By perfusing it into an ex-planted human liver, it was possible to observe fluorophore staining of the hepatocytes and T-cells in the liver vasculature. During the live liver imaging these probes have been shown to perfuse effectively in human tissue and emit brightly without significant cytotoxicity during the course of the experiment.