Aggregation-induced emission: a review of promising cyano-functionalized AIEgens

The aggregation-induced emission (AIE) is a photochemical process described in 2001, where the aggregation of specific kinds of organic compounds enhances the emission of light performed by these organic compounds. Since then, this phenomenon had attracted much interest because of its potential application in optics, electronics, energy and bioscience. In this review, the main concepts of AIE are going to be explained through the mechanistic decipherment of these photophysical processes. Additionally, some AIE systems will be discussed, describing the phosphorescence enhancement induced in organic molecules by this effect, but we will be focusing on the cyano-containing AIEgens, its recent advances and the driving forces that lead to the AIE effect in these cyano-containing molecules.