title: Deep-red emissive crescent-shaped fluorescent dyes: substituent effect on live cell imaging.
abstract: A series of crescent-shaped fluorescent dyes (CP1-CP6) were synthesized by hybridizing coumarin and pyronin moieties with different amino substituents at both ends. The molecular structures and photophysical properties of these fluorescent dyes were investigated through X-ray diffraction, absorption spectroscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy. Results show that the fluorescent dyes exhibited crescent-shaped structures, deep-red emissions (approximately 650 nm), and significant Stokes shifts. In live-cell-imaging experiments, CP1 stains mitochondria, whereas CP3 and CP6 stain the lysosomes in a cytoplasm and the RNA in nucleoli. The relationships between different amino substituent groups and the imaging properties of CP dyes were discussed as well. Additionally, findings from the cytotoxicity and photostability experiments on living cells indicated the favorable biocompatibility and high photostability of the CP dyes.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials and CityU-CAS Joint Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Weimin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials and CityU-CAS Joint Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Bingjiang
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials and CityU-CAS Joint Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Guangle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials and CityU-CAS Joint Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jiechao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials and CityU-CAS Joint Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jiasheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials and CityU-CAS Joint Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials and CityU-CAS Joint Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Haitao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials and CityU-CAS Joint Laboratory of Functional Materials and Devices, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D058948:Cell Tracking / Q000379:methods*; D003116:Color; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D000069416:Intravital Microscopy / Q000379:methods*; D008422:Materials Testing; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes
keywords: bioimaging; fluorescent dyes; lysosome; mitochondria; nucleolus