NIR FRET luminescence in rhenium complex and dye co‐loaded polymer nanoparticles

Abstract

Photoactive transition-metal complexes are luminophores combining high photostability and long luminescence lifetimes. However, reduced optical performance in aqueous solutions has limited their use in biological systems. Herein, the physicochemical and photophysical properties and bioimaging compatibility of Re diimine complexes and near-infrared (NIR) emitting Cy5 dyes coencapsulated in polymer nanoparticles (NPs) are investigated. By varying the polymers, NPs with sizes from 20 to 70 nm and encapsulating ≤ 40 wt.% of Re complexes, i.e., ≈11 000 Re complexes per NP, are obtained. The photoluminescence (PL) quantum yields of the Re complexes increase eightfold to ≈50% upon encapsulation (vs 6–7% in acetonitrile), resulting in PL brightness up to 10⁸ m⁻¹ cm⁻¹ and PL lifetimes of 3–4 µs. Coencapsulation of Cy5 yields very bright NIR emission upon Re complex excitation. Very close Re-to-Cy5 donor–acceptor distances down to ≤2 nm and FRET efficiencies over 90% are confirmed by PL lifetime measurements. The Re-Cy5 NPs enter mammalian cells for high-contrast PL imaging in both visible and NIR. This detailed characterization provides a better understanding of the photophysical properties of the transition-metal-dye FRET NPs and presents a vital step toward the efficient design of a new class of bright luminescent NP probes.

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