Design and synthesis of theranostic antibiotic nanodrugs that display enhanced antibacterial activity and luminescence

Significance The work described represents a strategy in the design and development of theranostic pure nanodrugs for combating drug-resistant bacteria. The significance of this work includes: ( i ) a modular synthetic strategy for the preparation of ciprofloxacin derivatives in high yields in one step at room temperature without any catalysts; ( ii ) stable nanoaggregates, prepared following the principle of aggregation-induced emission, and successfully used as fluorescent organic dots to image bacteria; and ( iii ) formulation of nanodrugs that showed aggregation-enhanced antibacterial activities.