Chemistry on Boranils: an entry to functionalized fluorescent dyes

Boron-Salphen Conjugate based Molecular Probe Exhibiting Fluorescence On-Off-On Response in Detection of Cu2+ and ATP through Displacement Approach

Synthesis and photophysical properties of a fluorescent probe HBD is described. Probe upon interaction with metal ions, anions and nucleoside pyrophosphates (NPPs) showed fluorescence quenching with Cu2+ due to chelation enhanced quenching effect (CHEQ). Moreover, interaction of ensemble HBD.Cu2+ with anions and NPPs showed fluorescence "turn-On" response with ATP selectively. "On-Off-On" responses observed with Cu2+ and ATP is attributed to an interplay between ESIPT and TICT processes. Cyclic voltammogram of probe exhibited quasi-reversible redox behaviour with three oxidation and two reduction potentials and the change in band gaps of probe suggested the interaction with Cu2+ and ATP. The 2 : 1 and 1 : 1 binding stoichiometry for an interaction between probe and Cu2+ (LOD, 62 nM) and ensemble, HBD.Cu2+ with ATP (LOD, 0.4 μM) respectively are realised by Job's plot and HRMS data. Cell imaging studies carried out to detect Cu2+ and ATP in HeLa cells. Also, the output emission observed with Cu2+ and ATP is utilized to construct an implication (IMP) logic gate. Test paper strips showed naked-eye visible color responses to detect Cu2+ and ATP. In real water samples probe successfully detected copper (0.03 μM) between 5-6.5 ppb level (ICP-MS method).

Fluorescent phenothiazine-fused boron complexes for ratiometric hypochlorite imaging

Fluorescent hypochlorite probes with ratiometric imaging ability are highly desirable for imaging hypochlorite in biological systems. However, it is still challenging to develop new scaffolds for these probes. In this study, we demonstrate that phenothiazine-fused boron complexes are promising scaffolds for the design of ratiometric fluorescent hypochlorite probes. The synthesized complexes based on the scaffold show ultrafast and ratiometric absorption/fluorescence changes for hypochlorite. We also developed an endoplasmic reticulum-targeting probe and demonstrated that it has excellent real-time imaging ability for both endogenous and exogenous hypochlorite in the endoplasmic reticulum of living cells.

Tris(boranil) Columnar Liquid Crystalline Fluorophores: pseudo-Triphenylene Boron(III) Complexes with Peripheral N-B-O Linkages

The borate complexes derived from salicylaldimine ligands, called boranils, possess a wide range of photophysical and electronic characteristics intrinsically. The unique combination of molecular rigidity, rendered by four-coordinate boron bridges, and extended π-conjugation enable them to serve as technically feasible fluorescent materials (dyes). The incorporation of liquid crystallinity in these boron(III) complexes, especially the columnar (Col) mesomorphism, which is overlooked hitherto, would provide a new dimension to these complexes. Herein, we report the first examples of tris(boranil) discotic liquid crystal (LC) dyes that have been readily synthesized by treating tris(N-salicylideneaniline)s, (TSAN)s, with BF₃ .Et₂ O in the presence of an acid quencher. These C₃ -symmetric borate complexes self-assemble into the Col phase, existing over a wide thermal span including room temperature. The 2D periodic order of the Col phases shows dependence on the length of the peripheral tails. The photophysical measurements reveal the fluorescence emission in their two condensed states viz., solid and Col phase, and in solution. Their electrochemical, two-step oxidation process coupled with the aforesaid features upholds their significance in applied research.

New Light on an Old Story: Breaking Kasha's Rule in Phosphorescence Mechanism of Organic Boron Compounds and Molecule Design

In this work, the phosphorescence mechanism of (E)-3-(((4-nitrophenyl)imino)methyl)-2H-thiochroman-4-olate-BF2 compound (S-BF2) is investigated theoretically. The phosphorescence of S-BF2 has been reassigned to the second triplet state (T2) by the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method combined with the multi-configurational pair density functional theory (MCPDFT) to approach the limit of theoretical accuracy. The calculated radiative and non-radiative rate constants support the breakdown of Kasha's rule further. Our conclusion contradicts previous reports that phosphorescence comes from the first triplet state (T1). Based on the revised phosphorescence mechanism, we have purposefully designed some novel compounds in theory to enhance the phosphorescence efficiency from T2 by replacing substitute groups in S-BF2. Overall, both S-BF2 and newly designed high-efficiency molecules exhibit anti-Kasha T2 phosphorescence instead of the conventional T1 emission. This work provides a useful guidance for future design of high-efficiency green-emitting phosphors.

3D Boranil Complexes with Aggregation-Amplified Circularly Polarized Luminescence

The development of small organic CPL-active molecules with large luminescent dissymmetry factors is highly demanded due to their promising applications in chiroptical devices and sensors. This work describes the design and synthesis of a new family of CPL-active BF₂ complexes, (R_p)/(S_p)-3a-3e, which were constructed by fusing a N̂O-chelated BF₂ complex with [2.2]paracyclophane. These complexes display aggregation-amplified CPL with moderate dissymmetry factors values and moderate quantum yields both in solution and in the solid state. In addition, these photophysical properties were rationalized via X-ray diffraction and TD-DFT calculations.

Boranils: Versatile Multifunctional Organic Fluorophores for Innovative Applications

Multifunctional stimuli-responsive fluorophores showing bright environment-sensitive emissions have fueled intense research due to their innovative applications in the fields of biotechnologies, optoelectronics, and materials. A strong structural diversity is observed among molecular materials, which has been enriched over the years with a growing responsiveness to stimuli. Boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes have long been the flagship of emissive boron complexes due to their outstanding properties until a decade ago when analogues based on N^O, N^N, or N^C π-conjugated chelates emerged. The finality of developing borate dyes was to compensate for BODIPYs’ lack of solid-state fluorescence and small Stokes shifts while keeping their excellent optical properties in solution. Among them, the borate complexes based on a salicylaldimine ligand, called by the acronym boranils appear as the most promising, owing to their facile synthesis and dual-state emission properties. Boranil dyes have proven to be good alternatives to BODIPY dyes and have been applied in applications such as bioimaging, bioconjugation, and detection of biosubstrates. Meanwhile, ab initio calculations have rationalized experimental results and provided insightful feedback for future designs. This review article aims at providing a concise yet representative overview of the chemistry around the boranil core with the subsequent applications.

Discovery of Functional Luminescence Properties Based on Flexible and Bendable Boron-Fused Azomethine/Azobenzene Complexes with O,N,O-Type Tridentate Ligands

Azomethine (C=N) and azo (N=N) scaffolds are a part of structural units in poly(p-phenylene azomethine) (PAM) and poly(p-phenylene azo) (PAZ), respectively. Poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) is known to be one of luminescent π-conjugated polymers, meanwhile PAM and PAZ, which are the aza-substituted PPV analogues, are regarded as weak or no emissive materials. However, by the boron complexation, intense emission can be induced. Furthermore, environment-sensitivity and stimuli-responsivity were also observed. In this review, we demonstrate unique and versatile luminescent properties based on "flexible and bendable" π-conjugated systems composed of the boron-fused azomethine and azobenzene complexes (BAm and BAz) with the O,N,O-type tridentate ligands. The "flexible and bendable" luminophores showed intriguing optical behaviors, such as thermosalient effect, aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and crystallized-induced emission (CIE). Moreover, highly efficient emissions both in solution and film states were observed from the polymers. We illustrate the results and mechanisms on these luminescent properties from the series of our recent studies with BAm and BAz complexes and polymers.

Fundamental studies to emerging applications of pyrrole-BF2 (BOPHY) fluorophores

This review highlights the up-and-coming pyrrole-BF₂ (BOPHY) fluorophores, with a focus on synthetic procedures, photophysical properties – including structure–property analyses – as well as emerging applications.

Triarylborane-Appended Anils and Boranils: Solid-State Emission, Mechanofluorochromism, and Phosphorescence

Herein, the design, synthesis, optical properties, and mechanofluorochromism characteristics of a series of conjugates having covalently linked triarylborane (TAB) and anil/boranil units (TAB-anil: 1 a-3 a and TAB-boranil: 1-3) are reported. The electronic interactions between TAB and anil/boranil in 1 a-3 a and 1-3 were fine-tuned by changing the boryl moiety's position on the phenyl spacer connecting the BMes₂ (Mes=mesityl) and anil/boranil units. A boryl moiety at the meta position (1 a) of the phenyl spacer stabilizes the enolic form (E-OH), whereas a boryl moiety at the para position (2 a and 3 a) stabilizes the keto form (Z-NH) in the solid state. However, in solution 1 a, 2 a, and 3 a exhibit keto-enol tautomerism in both ground and excited states. Compounds 1 a-3 a and 1-3 show red-shifted absorption compared with 4 a and 4, which are devoid of TAB moieties, which indicate effective participation of an empty p orbital on the boron center in 1 a-3 a and 1-3. Compounds 1 and 2 showed fluorescence variations in response to external stimuli such as mechanical grinding. Long phosphorescence lifetimes of 18-46 ms were observed for compounds 1-3. The observed optical properties of 1 a-3 a and 1-3 are rationalized in the context of quantum mechanical calculations.

Organolithium-Mediated Postfunctionalization of Thiazolo[3,2-c][1,3,5,2]oxadiazaborinine Fluorescent Dyes

An effective method for transition-metal-free postfunctionalization of thiazolo[3,2-c][1,3,5,2]oxadiazaborinine dyes via direct lithiation of the 1,3-thiazole ring was developed. The reaction allows valuable regioselective C-H modification of these N,O-chelated organoboron chromophores incorporating different groups, including C-, Hal-, Si-, S-, Se-, and Sn-substituents. As a result, a library of novel fluorescent 1,3-thiazole-based organoboron complexes has been synthesized and characterized. The influence of the donor/acceptor strength of the substituent E on the photophysical properties has been established. The compound with a bulky lipophilic substituent (SnBu₃) exhibits a relatively high solid-state photoluminescence quantum yield of 44%.

A Family of BODIPY-like Highly Fluorescent and Unsymmetrical Bis(BF2) Pyrrolyl-Acylhydrazone Chromophores: BOAPY

A new family of pyrrolyl-acylhydrazones anchored with two BF₂ units, named BOAPY, have been developed as BODIPY-like and unsymmetrical bis(BF₂) chromophores via a simple one-pot reaction. The easily accessible scaffold enjoys excellent diversity due to the structural versatilities of 2-formylpyrroles and acylhydrazines. BOAPYs exhibit good molar absorption coefficients, large Stokes shifts, and excellent chemical stability. More importantly, most of them display excellent fluorescence quantum yields both in solution and the solid state (up to 0.88 and 0.64, respectively).

Origin of Fluorescence from Boranils in the Crystalline Phase

A small series of boranil complexes has been studied by fluorescence spectroscopy. Weakly fluorescent in most organic solvents at room temperature, the target compounds display bright emission in the crystalline phase. X-ray diffraction patterns obtained for single crystals indicate a distorted tetrahedral geometry around the O-B-N center with the boron atom being displaced from the plane of the heterobicyclic ring. Consideration of the various bond lengths in comparison with those of reference compounds indicates that the ancillary phenyl ring, bearing different para-substituents, does not make a prominent contribution to the molecular dipole moment in the solid state. Absorption and fluorescence spectra recorded for the crystals remain remarkably similar to those for liquid solutions and display large Stokes shifts. Proximity broadening is observed in one case. The nitrophenyl derivative exhibits additional absorption and emission bands unique to the solid state and could be indicative of an intermolecular charge-transfer transition. The optical properties are discussed in terms of the crystal packing diagrams.

Facile construction of boranil complexes with aggregation-induced emission characteristics and their specific lipid droplet imaging applications

A rational strategy was reported to construct boranil complexes (DPFB derivatives) with unique aggregation-induced emission effects by installing phenyl rings in the anil ligand as the intramolecular rotors. In view of the good biocompatibility and suitable lipophilicity, DPFB derivatives can serve as excellent fluorescent probes for specific imaging of lipid droplets in living cells and yolk lipids in zebrafish.

Benzo[4,5]thiazolo[3,2- c][1,3,5,2]oxadiazaborinines: Synthesis, Structural, and Photophysical Properties

A family of highly emissive benzo[4,5]thiazolo[3,2- c][1,3,5,2]oxadiazaborinines, conjugated with the donor 4-dimethylaminophenyl group, was designed and synthesized. Their photophysical, both in solution and in the solid state, and structural properties were investigated. The influence of donor and acceptor substituents (R) in the benzothiazole unit on photophysical properties of complexes was found out. The tetrafluorobenzothiazole analogue exhibits nonbonded nuclear spin-spin coupling between fluorines from the BF₂ group and α-fluorine atom at the benzene ring. Additionally, this boron complex demonstrates a comparatively high solid-state fluorescence quantum yield (Φ = 0.34).

N,O π-Conjugated 4-Substituted 1,3-Thiazole BF2 Complexes: Synthesis and Photophysical Properties

A series of 1,3-thiazole-based organoboron complexes has been designed and synthesized by acylation of 2-amino 4-subsituted 1,3-thiazoles with (4-dimethylamino)benzoyl chloride and the subsequent BF₂ complexation reaction. The influence of substituents in position 4 of the thiazole ring on photophysical properties of the complexes has been investigated. Synthesized thiazolo[3,2-c][1,3,5,2]oxadiazaborinines mainly showed intensive fluorescence in solutions. Complex with a 4,5-unsubstituted thiazole unit demonstrated an aggregation induced emission (AIE) effect and a very high fluorescent quantum yield (94%) in the solid state because of the inhibition of π-π/π-n interactions in the molecular packing.

Structure and electronics in dimeric boron π expanded azine and salphen complexes

Although boron-based fluorophores incorporating nitrogenous chelating ligands have received much attention, there has been little work on examples of boron-salphen and azine derivatives. In this report, we present several π expanded boron salphen type complexes, incorporating both bis(2-hydroxynaphthaldehyde)azine as well as ortho, meta and para variants of the analogous 2-hydroxynaphthaldehyde salphen compounds. For the azine, we observed only the formation of a single BF₂ adduct, while for the naphth-phen compounds dimeric BF₂ binding was observed. All new compounds were fully characterized via X-ray diffraction, and both DFT and TDDFT studies were carried out to probe the electronic structures of these fluorophores.

Boroquinol Complexes with Fused Extended Aromatic Backbones: Synthesis and Optical Properties

Boron-based dyes are attractive synthetic targets due to their large variability of absorption and emission wavelengths. Through Pictet-Spengler cyclizations, followed by oxidation, π-extended boroquinols have been synthesized. During optimization of the reaction conditions, an unusual dearylation has been found and mechanistically investigated. For two of the synthesized boroquinols, mechanochromic effects with bathochromic shifts up to 50 nm were found upon grinding.

Carbazole modified salicylaldimines and their difluoroboron complexes: effect of the tert-butyl and trifluoromethyl terminal groups on organogelation and piezofluorochromism

Luminescent nanofibers were generated from nontraditional π-gelators based on salicylaldimines and their difluoroboron complex bearing tert-butyl carbazole and trifluoromethylbenzene.

The Influence of the π-Conjugated Spacer on Photophysical Properties of Difluoroboranyls Derived from Amides Carrying a Donor Group

A series of difluoroboranyls derived from amides carrying a variable π-conjugated spacer between the electron-donating (D) and electron-accepting (A) groups was synthesized and characterized with (1)H, (11)B, (13)C, (15)N, and (19)F NMR, electronic absorption, fluorescence spectroscopies, and first-principle calculations. The D-to-A distance in the series varied from 1.5 to 4.5 Å, causing bathochromic shifts of both the absorption and fluorescence maxima by more than 120 and 213 nm, respectively. These trends are rationalized by quantum-mechanical calculations that allow for quantification of the charge-transfer distance. Theoretical calculations were also performed to determine the vibronic couplings and thus to reproduce the experimental band shapes.

Boranil dye based “turn-on” fluorescent probes for detection of hydrogen peroxide and their cell imaging application

The synthesis of boranil dye fluorescent probes for the detection of hydrogen peroxide has been described. The probes have been successfully applied for imaging of H₂O₂ in HeLa cells under physiological conditions.

Solution and solid-state fluorescence of 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)-1,5-benzodiazepin-2-one (HBD) borate complexes

A new family of fluorescent 1,5-benzodiazepin-2-one (HBD) borate complexes was prepared in good yields, and fully characterized by means of MS, NMR and IR spectroscopy, as well as X-ray crystal structure analysis for compound 13.