MegaStokes BODIPY-triazoles as environmentally sensitive turn-on fluorescent dyes

Abstract

A novel class of triazole-derivatized BODIPY compounds have been synthesized on solid-phase by employing mild reaction conditions based on the copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition. The resulting BODIPY-triazoles exhibited MegaStokes shifts (up to 160 nm) and remarkable environmentally sensitive quantum yield increments that asserted their potential as turn-on fluorescent sensors. Out of a library of 120 compounds, we identified BDC-9 as a fluorescent chemosensor with high sensitivity and remarkable species-selectivity towards human serum albumin. These results validate MegaStokes BODIPY dyes as new fluorophores for the development of environmentally sensitive fluorescent probes.