A water‐soluble, AIE‐active polyelectrolyte for conventional and fluorescence lifetime imaging of mouse neuroblastoma neuro‐2A cells

A new conjugated polyelectrolyte containing tetraphenylethene units in the backbone is synthesized and characterized. This polyelectrolyte is water-soluble and exhibits aggregation-induced emission (AIE) behavior. It is biocompatible and can be directly used in conventional and fluorescence lifetime imaging of mouse neuroblastoma neuro-2A cells, providing useful information of cellular morphology and intracellular aggregation or motion. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018, 56, 672–680.