Six D–π-A model compounds (compounds 1–6) were conveniently synthesized and characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, MS and single crystal X-ray diffraction. One photon absorption and emission properties were studied by using a series of UV-visible and fluorescence spectra and theoretical calculations were applied to investigate the structure–property relationships, which showed that all six compounds possessed an obvious intramolecular charge transfer process which could be attributed to their optical properties. We simultaneously investigated their fluorescence emission performance in water/acetonitrile mixtures and found that they all have outstanding aggregation induced emission properties. Scanning electron microscopy testing illustrated that orderly aggregation was the main reason for their aggregation induced emission properties. Cytotoxicity tests indicated that all these compounds had good biocompatibility for living cells, and bio-imaging studies highlighted the potential application of the six compounds in one-photon fluorescence microscopy imaging domains.