A series of meso-polymethine-substituted BODIPY compounds have been synthesized by the reaction of mesomethyl-3,5-diphenylboradipyrromethene with a number of hemicyanine derivatives. The dyes obtained exhibit intense long-wavelength absorption, but weak fluorescence. Upon protonation of the dyes the long-wavelength band disappears and the intensity of the short-wavelength band in-
IntroductionBoradipyrromethene dyes (4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diazas-indacenes, BODIPY, BDP) have attracted considerable attention over the past two decades. The ever increasing interest in this type of compound is due to their excellent thermal, chemical, and photochemical stability, high molar absorptivity, high fluorescence quantum yields, insensitivity to solvent polarity and pH, long excited-state lifetimes, a large two-photon cross-section for multiphoton excitation, lack of ionic charge, and good solubility.[1] However, the absorption maxima of the majority of BODIPYs are below 600 nm. Long-wavelength dyes are important for both basic and applied research [2] and therefore many synthetic approaches exist for modifying the BODIPY core to give structures that absorb at longer wavelengths. One of the most promising approaches to the modification of BOD-IPY is its peripheral functionalization with conjugated chromophores. Scheme 1.[a] Institute of Organic Chemistry, National Academy For example, distyryl-substituted derivatives A exhibit a bathochromic shift of the absorption maximum of 79 nm compared with diphenyl-substituted analogues (see Scheme 1). The bathochromic shift of phenylethynyl analogues B is somewhat smaller, however, both A and B are typical BODIPYs and demonstrate high fluorescence quantum yields that are fairly insensitive to the nature of the solvent.[3] The introduction of additional 4-(dialkylamino) substituents into A (structure C [4] ) results in even more pronounced spectral changes, with bathochromic shifts of around 80 nm. The structures C exhibit very small solvatochromism and considerable positive solvatofluorochromism. The fluorescence intensity increases significantly with decreasing solvent polarity. Protonation of the dialkylamino groups in C leads to optical properties that are very similar to those of A. Although the charge-separated mesomeric form C2 is typical of merocyanine dyes, the properties of the structures C (e.g., easy protonation, weak solvatochromism, and relatively low molar absorptivity) as a whole do not correspond to those of merocyanines. Thus, the dialkylamino groups in structures C provide considerable spectral changes, but do not change the color of the V. P. Yakubovskyi, M. P. Shandura, Y. P. Kovtun FULL PAPER BODIPY core. Therefore in this case they cannot be referred to as true "end groups" as defined in the ideology of polymethine dyes.This statement is even more evident for structures D. [3a,4b,5] In this case the dialkylamino group leads to a small hypsochromic shift of the BODIPY absorption maximum. The fluorescence quantum yields are quenched in polar solvents but not i...