The impacts of dimethylation of 4‐Amino‐1,8‐
Naphthalimide (ANI) on its photophysical properties are reported. The
resulting 4‐DiMe‐ANI displays completely different fluorescence
properties, conferring it ability to selectively label lipid droplets in living
cells. A comprehensive photophysical study revealed that this
selectivity arises from an Internal Charge Transfer favored in lipophilic
media to the detriment of a non‐emissive TICT in more polar media.
This results in a very high "LDs/Cytosol" signal ratio, enabling LDs to
be imaged with an excellent signal‐to‐noise ratio, and positioning its
performance above that of the BODIPY 493/503 commonly used to
image LDs.