Synthesis, aggregation-induced emission of a new anti-B18H22-isoquinoline hybrid

[Display omitted] •Synthesis of anti-B18H22-isoquinoline hybrid for the first time.•Fluorescence modulation of anti-B18H22 by introducing isoquinoline group.•Anti-B18H22-isoquinoline hybrid displays aggregation-induced emission characteristic.•The potential application of the polystyrene hybrid film. A novel compound (B18H20(NC9H7)2) was synthesized by connecting isoquinoline moieties to the anti-B18H22. The fluorescence emission performance in tetrahydrofuran/water mixtures showed that the compound had obvious aggregation-induced emission characteristic. Upon addition of water in tetrahydrofuran (90:10, v/v) solution, the quantum yield is increased by 0.04–1.41%. The photophysics properties of B18H20(NC9H7)2/polystyrene and B18H20(NC9H7)2/anti-B18H22/polystyrene film were also studied, and the testing results show that these two films have a wide range of absorption in the visible region. Our work broadens the structure types of anti-B18H22 derivatives and provides a new way to develop new anti-B18H22 fluorescent materials containing isoquinoline units.