Turning an FDA‐approved therapeutic into an AIEgen for imaging live bacteria and for bacterial detection

Aggregation Induced Emission (AIE) is an attractive, fluorescent‐based phenomenon that can be used to design fluorescent imaging agents and fluorescent sensors. In this highlight, we discuss a recently reported study that identifies the chemical scaffold of an FDA‐approved therapeutic (deferasirox) as a molecule with AIE‐like properties (AIEgen). Utilizing its therapeutic efficacy for bacterial biofilms, deferasirox‐derivatives were shown able to treat and image bacteria biofilms and detect a bacterial biomarker. This demonstrates the potential of AIE for drug design as this allows the simultaneous ability to image the therapeutic's location and mode of action.