Work

Bioinspired room-temperature ionic liquids and GUMBOSs as enhanced emission tools for organic near-infrared dyes in aqueous media

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The low molecular brightness (MB) of many near-infrared (NIR) dyes in biological environments limits their use in bioimaging despite minimal background interference. In this study, we describe BRIGHT (bioinspired room-temperature ionic liquids [ILs] and groups of uniform materials based on organic salts [GUMBOSs] as enhanced emission tools), a platform based on bioinspired room-temperature ILs and GUMBOSs that significantly enhances the fluorescence of multiple organic NIR dyes in aqueous environments. Choline deoxycholate ([Ch][Doc]) is identified as an optimal formulation, increasing the MB of indolizine squaraine (SO 3 SQ) dye by 96-fold, transforming non-emissive dyes like IR-1061 into bright probes. Enhancement arises from stabilization of excited states and delayed decay lifetimes, supported by transient absorption, anisotropy, fluorescence, light scattering, and computational studies. [Ch][Doc] shows low cytotoxicity and minimal hemolysis, supporting biological application. High-resolution cellular imaging demonstrates improved brightness, resolution, and photostability. This strategy manipulates emissive decay pathways using bioinspired ILs, expanding the potential of organic NIR dyes in bioimaging.

Source: Cell Reports Physical Science

DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2026.103113