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Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Production and Detection of Reactive Oxygen Species ROS in Cancers
Published on: November 21, 2011
AIE-active anthraquinone-derived sonosensitizers with enhanced reactive oxygen species generation for ultrasonic
Dongmei Deng1, Junjie Chen1, Haijian Meng1
1Department of Polymeric Materials and Engineering, School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China. CNJunjieChen@gdut.edu.cn.
Abstract:
The development of highly efficient and biosafe sonosensitizers remains a significant challenge for sonodynamic antibacterial therapy. Herein, we report a novel class of aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active anthraquinone-derived sonosensitizers (AQ and EQ) engineered to overcome aggregation-caused quenching limitations. Through rational molecular design featuring twisted donor-acceptor-donor architectures and rotor-integrated anthraquinone cores, these sensitizers exhibit exceptional reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation capabilities under low-intensity ultrasound irradiation. Nano-formulation with the biocompatible phospholipid DPPC further enhanced dispersibility and biofilm penetration capacity. The optimized sonosensitizer AQ@DPPC and EQ@DPPC demonstrated remarkable antibacterial efficacy, achieving outstanding eradication of both Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) biofilms at low concentrations (15 µM). This work establishes a new paradigm for designing AIE-enhanced organic sonosensitizers and provides a robust platform for ultrasound-activated antimicrobial applications, with significant potential for translation into non-thermal sterilization technologies.
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Relative Reactivity of Carboxylic Acid Derivatives
A key factor in assessing the reactivity of the acid derivatives is the basicity of the substituent or the leaving group. The lower the basicity of the leaving group, the higher the reactivity of the derivative. The basicity of the leaving group follows this order:
Halide ions < Acyloxy ions < Alkoxy ions < Amine ions
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Formation of Species
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