Chemical Approaches to Optimize the Properties of Organic Fluorophores for Imaging and Sensing

Abstract

Organic fluorophores are indispensable tools in cells, tissue and in vivo imaging, and have enabled much progress in the wide range of biological and biomedical fields. However, many available dyes suffer from insufficient performances, such as short absorption and emission wavelength, low brightness, poor stability, small Stokes shift, and unsuitable permeability, restricting their application in advanced imaging technology and complex imaging. Over the past two decades, many efforts have been made to improve these performances of fluorophores. Starting with the luminescence principle of fluorophores, this review clarifies the mechanisms of the insufficient performance for traditional fluorophores to a certain extent, systematically summarizes the modified approaches of optimizing properties, highlights the typical applications of the improved fluorophores in imaging and sensing, and indicates existing problems and challenges in this area. This progress not only proves the significance of improving fluorophores properties, but also provide a theoretical guidance for the development of high‐performance fluorophores.

Tetraphenylpyrazine-based chiral deep-blue dyes with high brightness for energy delivery

“…1E and Table S1, ESI†). 20 Moreover, the Commission International de L’Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of these films were (0.15, 0.05) (Fig. 1F and Table S1, ESI†).…”

Advancements and Practical Considerations for Biophysical Research: Navigating the Challenges and Future of Super-resolution Microscopy

“…For those delving into SRM, numerous reviews offer in-depth analyses of fluorophores' photophysical attributes, guiding researchers to identify the optimal dye for their experiments. 138,139 Considering these factors, appropriate control experiments must be conducted to extract reliable scientific insights into protein function from super-resolution microscopy data. These may include (i) comparing the localization and function of the labeled protein to an unlabeled counterpart to assess the impact of the fluorescent tag on protein function and (ii) performing colocalization studies with known marker proteins or organelles to verify the subcellular localization of the labeled protein.…”

“…This process can introduce challenges, including the need for thorough postlabeling cleanup. , The selection of the most suitable fluorophores is influenced by the specific requirements of the biological system, the labeling technique, and the inherent properties of the fluorophores themselves. For those delving into SRM, numerous reviews offer in-depth analyses of fluorophores’ photophysical attributes, guiding researchers to identify the optimal dye for their experiments. , …”

“…For those delving into SRM, numerous reviews offer in-depth analyses of fluorophores’ photophysical attributes, guiding researchers to identify the optimal dye for their experiments. 138 , 139 …”