Nanoparticle‐mediated intracellular delivery of oligonucleotides is a complex phenomenon that depends on the architecture and the intracellular trafficking of the engineered nanoparticles. Unravelling the molecular arrangements of oligonucleotides within the nanoparticles as well as their intracellular behavior are essential for designing effective nucleic acid delivery systems. Herein, a simple and general strategy for probing the endosomal escape of nanoparticles carrying oligonucleotides in live cells is reported. A triplex‐forming oligonucleotide probe is designed to target the transcription factor, kappa‐light‐chain‐enhancer of activated B cells (NF‐κB), in the cytosol of cells and to transduce the binding into a fluorescent Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) signal. The combined use of the triplex‐forming oligonucleotide probe and super‐resolution microscopy enables the elucidation of the morphology, intracellular localization, and endosomal escape of the oligonucleotide‐loaded nanoparticles on a molecular level and with nanoscale resolution. The co‐delivery of the FRET probe and mRNA in cells via lipid‐ and polymer‐ based nanoparticles allow simultaneous correlation of the endosomal escape properties of nanoparticles and gene expression efficiency.

Triamine-based receptors containing 2 anthracene units are able to signal ketoprofen in H₂O/EtOH solution via fluorescence emission enhancement, exploiting a proton transfer process upon substrate coordination.

Ligands L1 and L2 are composed, respectively, by a diethylenetriamine or a dipropylenetriamine moiety linked at their extremities to anthracene units through methylene bridges and form stable 1:1 complexes with Zn(II), in which the metal is coordinated by all three nitrogens of the ligands. Zn(II) binding by L1 leads to a marked enhancement of the fluorescence emission, thanks to the inhibition of the photoinduced electron transfer (PET) process from the benzylic amine groups of the triamine sub-unit to the excited fluorophore, which normally quenches the emission of fluorescent polyamine receptors. Conversely, the emission of L2 is somewhat quenched by Zn(II) binding likely due—as also indicated by ab initio calculations and molecular dynamics simulations—to the formation of cation π quenching contacts between the metal and the anthracene moieties that overcome the effects of PET inhibition. The Zn(II) complexes of both ligands are able to bind ketoprofen (KP) in its anionic form, thanks to the formation of COO⁻—Zn(II) coordinative bonds, to form [KPZnL]⁺ and [(KP)₂ZnL] (L = L1 or L2) ternary adducts. While KP binding to [ZnL2]²⁺ enhances the fluorophore emission, coordination of KP to [ZnL1]²⁺ slightly reduces the anthracene emission, due, once again, to the formation in the L1 ternary complexes of marked cation π contacts.