Rational Design and Synthesis of Environmental Responsive Fluorophores

Abstract

Environmental-responsive fluorophores are fluorescent molecules that change their photophysical properties, such as intensity, wavelength, and lifetime, in response to variations in the surrounding environment. These variations can include polarity, pH, viscosity, temperature, and metal ion concentration. We engage in the rational design and synthesis of advanced fluorescent dyes. The lecture topics include solvatochromic fluorophores, aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens), near-room-temperature fluorescent nematic liquid crystals, molecular thermometer, bioimaging, photonic devices, and their synthesis.

Biography

Gen-ichi Konishi received his BSc degree from Osaka Prefecture University in 1995 under the supervision of Professor Kazuhiko Mizuno, and his PhD from Kyoto University in 2000 under the supervision of Professor Yoshiki Chujo. Immediately thereafter, he joined the School of Medicine at Shinshu University, where he served as an Assistant Professor for 2 years in the Division of Physiology. In 2002, he became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Kanazawa University, and in 2006 he was promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of Organic and Polymeric Materials, (now the Department of Chemical Science and Engineering) at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (now Institute of Science Tokyo) in 2006. His research interests include photochemistry, fluorescent dyes, bio-imaging, redox-photosensitised reactions (photoredox catalysis), polymer synthesis, optical materials, drug discovery, and physiology of the autonomic nervous system.