Aggregation‐Induced Emissive Feringa‐Type Motor: Toward the Dual‐Functional Motor in a Single Molecular Aggregation System

Aggregation‐induced emission (AIE)allows tunable photoluminescence via the simple regulation of molecular aggregation. The research spurt along this vein has also offered tremendous opportunities for light‐responsive artificial molecular machines that are to be fully explored for performing versatile functions. Herein, the study reports a light‐driven Feringa‐type motor, when in the appropriate aggregation state, not only demonstrates the light‐activated rotary motion but emits photons with good quantum yield. A semi‐quantitative TD‐DFT calculation is also conducted to aid the understanding of the competitive photoluminescence and photoisomerization processes of the motor. Cytotoxicity test shows this motor possesses good biocompatibility, laying a solid foundation for applying it in the bio‐environment. The results demonstrated that the engagement of the aggregation‐induced emission concept and light‐driven Feringa‐motor can lead to the discovery of the novel motorized AIEgen, which will further stimulate the rise of more advanced molecular motors capable of executing multi‐functionalities.