Abstract Aggregation-enhanced emission active 9, 10-bis (N-alkylcarbazol-2-yl-vinyl-2) anthracenes with changed length of N-alkyl chains (methyl, propyl, pentyl, and dodecyl) have been synthesized and their piezofluorochromic properties investigated. The results show that these homologues all exhibit remarkable piezofluorochromism with the pressing- induced spectral shifts of 36–45 nm, but the alkyl lengths do not affect significantly the ...