Engineering J-aggregates for NIR-induced meso-CF3-BODIPY nanoparticles by activated apoptosis mechanism in photothermal therapy

Forming J-aggregates by organic monomer is a fascinating strategy to urge spectroscopic redshift with respect to that of the monomer. Herein, we designed 1,7-diphenyl-substituted meso‑CF3-BDP monomer confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis. The low-barrier rotation of the –CF3 group in meso‑CF3-BDP 1 significantly enhances the non-radiative efficiency, and the photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE) of the self-assembled nanoparticles (1-NPs: λabs = 746 nm) by J-aggregates was 82%. 1-NPs could effectively block cell cycle progression, inhibit cancer cell proliferation and trigger cell apoptosis under low power laser irradiation (0.2 W/cm2). This study proposes an alternate molecular design platform by J-aggregates to promote PCE through the insertion of rotating segment and trigger the cancer cells apoptosis in photothermal therapy at low power laser density.