Accessing Tunable Afterglows from Highly Twisted Nonaromatic Organic AIEgens via Effective Through‐Space Conjugation

Nonaromatic, cross‐conjugated, and highly twisted luminogens consisting of acylated succinimides demonstrate aggregation‐induced emission characteristics along with tunable multicolor photoluminescence and afterglows in their single crystals. Effective through‐space conjugation among different moieties bearing n/π electrons promote the spin–orbit coupling and intersystem crossing and lead to diverse emissive clusters with concurrently rigidified conformations, thus allowing readily tunable emissions. Derived from it, the proof‐of‐concept application for advanced anti‐counterfeiting is illustrated. These results should spur the rational design of novel nonaromatic AIEgens, and moreover advance understandings of the non‐traditional intrinsic luminescence and the origin of tunable multicolor afterglows. AIE meets tunable afterglows: Highly distorted and nonaromatic CBSI and OBSI are non‐luminescent when molecularly dissolved in solutions, but exhibit distinct AIE and tunable p‐RTP features in aggregation states. This is on account of the effective through‐space conjugation among the moieties with π and/or n electrons, which results in the formation of diverse emissive clusters with highly rigidified conformations.