Temperature-sensitive emission of dialkylaminostyrylhetarene dyes and their incorporation into phospholipid aggregates: Applicability for thermal sensing and cellular uptake behavior

[Display omitted] •Push-pull dyes are temperature-sensitive luminophores in dichloromethane solutions.•Hydrophobicity-driven incorporation of the dyes into phospholipid-based bilayers.•Temperature sensitive emission of the dyes within phospholipid-bilayers.•Optimal dye for high temperature sensitivity and reversibility under heating/cooling.•The dye within bilayers efficiently stains the cell cytoplasm with low cytotoxicity. A series of dialkylaminostyrylhetarene dyes constructed from electron-rich and electron-deficient moieties of various structures connected via vinylene π-bridges are introduced as temperature-sensitive luminophores. The temperature dependent emission of the dyes in the acidified dichloromethane solutions derives from temperature-induced shift of the equilibrium between neutral and protonated forms of the dyes. The heating-induced blue shift and intensification of emission of neutral form of the dyes make them a promising basis for development of nanoparticles exhibiting temperature-sensitivity in aqueous solutions at pH typical of biological liquids. Hydrophobicity-driven incorporation of the water insoluble dyes into L-α-phosphatidylcholine(PC)-based bilayers allows to obtain water dispersible dye-PC aggregates, and to follow their emission in the aqueous solutions. Structure of the dyes has strong impact on the efficacy of the dyes incorporation into the PC-based bilayers, temperature sensitivity of emission of the dye-PC aggregates and its reversibility under the heating/cooling cycles. This enables structural optimization of the dyes in order to obtain the dye-PC species demonstrating maximal temperature dependence and reversibility of their luminescence in aqueous solutions. The selected leader exhibits low cytotoxicity exemplified for M−HeLa and Chang Liver cell lines, while the efficient cell internalization of the dye, manifested in the staining of the cell cytoplasm, opens further opportunities for biosensing applications.