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Nile Red (compound A) fluoresces at about 530 nm with good quantum yields in apolar solvents. In more polar ones its fluorescence emission shows a dramatic, and potentially useful, shift to about 640 nm, but its quantum yield is significantly reduced. Further, Nile Red has a very poor solubility in aqueous media. The hypothesis tested in this paper is that Nile Red derivatives that incorporate water-solubilizing groups will tend to fluoresce with good quantum yields in aqueous media, and in the more useful wavelength range around 640 nm. Thus three Nile Red derivatives, 1-3, were prepared. Compound 1 had three hydroxyl groups more than Nile Red, but was surprisingly insoluble in aqueous media. However, the dicarboxylic acid 2 and carboxylic/sulfonic acid derivative 3 showed excellent water solubilities. Spectral data for 2 and 3 showed that they do indeed fluoresce with good quantum yields in the 640 nm region in aqueous media. These properties of compounds 2 and 3 might be useful in the development of fluorescent probes for biotechnology.

This paper concerns the development of water-compatible fluorescent imaging-probes with tunable photonic properties that can be excited at a single wavelength. Bichromophoric cassettes 1a -1c consisting of a BODIPY donor and a cyanine acceptor were prepared using a simple synthetic route, and their photophysical properties were investigated. Upon excitation of the BODIPY moiety at 488 nm the excitation energy is transferred through an acetylene bridge to the cyanine dye acceptor, which emits light at approximately 600, 700, and 800 nm, ie with remarkable dispersions. This effect is facilitated by efficient energy transfer that gives a 'quasiStokes' shift of between 86 -290 nm opening a huge spectral window for imaging. The emissive properties of the cassettes depend on the energy transfer (ET) mechanism: the faster the transfer, the more efficient it is. Measurements of rates of energy transfer indicate that a through-bond energy transfer takes place in the cassettes 1a and 1b that is two orders of magnitude faster than the classical through-space, Förster, energy transfer (in the case of cassette 1c, however, both mechanisms are possible, and the rate measurements do not allow us to discern between them). Thus the cassettes 1a -1c are well suited for multiplexing experiments in biotechnological methods that involve a single laser-excitation source. However, for widespread application of these probes their solubility in aqueous media must be improved. Consequently, the probes were encapsulated in calcium phosphate/silicate nanoparticles (diameter ca 22 nm) that are freely dispersible in water. This encapsulation process resulted in only minor changes in the photophysical properties of the cassettes. The system based on cassette 1a was chosen to probe how effectively these nanoparticles could be used to deliver the dyes into cells. Encapsulated cassette 1a permeated Clone 9 rat liver cells where it localized in the mitochondria and fluoresced through the acceptor part, ie red. Overall, this paper reports readily accessible, cyanine-based through-bond energy transfer cassettes that are lypophilic but can be encapsulated to form nanoparticles that disperse freely in water. These particles can be used to enter cells and to label organelles.

The long and the short of it: Luminol chemiluminesces with a beautiful blue color; however, to be useful for biotechnological applications, the emission must be shifted to much longer wavelengths. Energy‐transfer cassettes like that shown in the picture provide one solution.

Graphical abstract