2026-04-13T00:08:13Zhttps://recercat.cat/oai/request

oai:recercat.cat:20.500.14342/10162025-05-27T14:36:18Zcom_2072_482405com_2072_183628col_2072_482414

00925njm 22002777a 4500 dc Nonell, Santi author Bresolí Obach, Roger author Gandioso, Albert author Palau Requena, Marta author Galindo Muñoz, Alex author Rovira, Anna author Bosch, Manel author Marchán Sancho, Vicente author 2018-08 Replacement of electron-donating N,N-dialkyl groups with three- or four-membered cyclic amines (e.g., aziridine and azetidine, respectively) has been described as a promising approach to improve some of the drawbacks of conventional fluorophores, including low fluorescent quantum yields (ΦF) in polar solvents. In this work, we have explored the influence of azetidinyl substitution on nonconventional coumarin-based COUPY dyes. Two azetidine-containing scaffolds were first synthesized in four linear synthetic steps and easily transformed into far-red/NIR-emitting fluorophores through N-alkylation of the pyridine moiety. Azetidine introduction in COUPY dyes resulted in enlarged Stokes’ shifts with respect to the N,N-dialkylamino-containing parent dyes, but the ΦF were not significantly modified in aqueous media, which is in contrast with previously reported observations in other fluorophores. However, azetidinyl substitution led to an unprecedented improvement in the photostability of COUPY dyes, and high cell permeability was retained since the fluorophores accumulated selectively in mitochondria and nucleoli of HeLa cells. Overall, our results provide valuable insights for the design and optimization of novel fluorophores operating in the far-red/NIR region, since we have demonstrated that three important parameters (Stokes’ shifts, ΦF, and photostability) cannot be always simultaneously addressed by simply replacing a N,N-dialkylamino group with azetidine, at least in nonconventional coumarin-based fluorophores. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14342/1016 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.joc.8b01422 Compostos orgànics--Síntesi Cumarines Fluorescència Dyes and pigments Fluorophores Aromatic compounds Solvents High photostability in nonconventional coumarins with far-red/NIR emission through azetidinyl substitution