The photophysical properties of a series of conjugated push-pull (iso)quinolines have been studied. The compounds were synthesized by well-established and straightforward methodologies. The materials exhibited not only emission solvatochromism in a variety of non-polar solvents, but also tunable halochromism. Some of the compounds remained moderately luminescent after protonation and these had a red emissive form, which was used to obtain white light emission, both in solution and in thin film, by the controlled protonation of the initially blue-green emitting materials. This methodology has potential applications in white OLED fabrication with two forms of a single emitter in equilibrium.

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