Benzothiazole-Based Smart Luminescent Materials: Synthesis, Functionalization, Mechanochromism, and Acidochromism

Abstract

Stimuli-responsive luminescent organic materials have attracted significant attention due to their dynamic optical response toward external stimuli and their potential applications in advanced technologies. Among various heterocyclic frameworks explored for such applications, benzothiazole has emerged as a versatile and efficient building block for the development of smart stimuli-responsive materials. Functionalized benzothiazole derivatives have demonstrated remarkable responsiveness toward mechanical and chemical stimuli, particularly in the form of mechanochromic and acidochromic behaviors. The present review focuses on recent developments in benzothiazole-based organic materials including their synthetic methodologies, functionalization approaches, and stimuli-responsive behavior. Representative examples of benzothiazole-based materials exhibiting mechanochromic responses upon mechanical grinding and acidochromic responses toward acidic environments are discussed in both solution and solid states. The role of molecular packing, intermolecular interactions, and charge transfer characteristics in governing these responses is also briefly discussed. This review provides the current progress in benzothiazole-based stimuli-responsive materials and offers insight into future opportunities for the design of an advanced multifunctional organic system.