Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Near-Infrared Fluorescent Molecules Based on 4H-1-Benzopyran Core
Shuting Wang,
Shulei Zhu,
Yawen Tanzeng,
Yuexing Zhang,
Chuchu Li,
Mingliang Ma,
Wei Lu
Affiliations
Shuting Wang
Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Molecular Therapeutics and New Drug Development, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Shulei Zhu
Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Molecular Therapeutics and New Drug Development, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Yawen Tanzeng
School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
Yuexing Zhang
Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials Co-Constructed by the Province and Ministry, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for the Synthesis and Application of Organic Functional Molecules, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China
Chuchu Li
Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Molecular Therapeutics and New Drug Development, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Mingliang Ma
Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Molecular Therapeutics and New Drug Development, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Wei Lu
Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Molecular Therapeutics and New Drug Development, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
A series of novel fluorescent 4H-1-benzopyrans was designed and developed as near-infrared fluorescent molecules with a compact donor–acceptor-donor architecture. Spectral intensity of the fluorescent molecules M-1, M-2, M-3 varied significantly with the increasing polarities of solvents, where M-3 showed high viscosity sensitivity in glycerol-ethanol system with a 3-fold increase in emission intensity. Increasing concentrations of compound M-3 to 5% BSA in PBS elicited a 4-fold increase in fluorescence intensity, exhibiting a superior environmental sensitivity. Furthermore, the in vitro cellular uptake behavior and CLSM assay of cancer cell lines demonstrated that M-3 could easily enter the cell nucleus and bind to proteins with low toxicity. Therefore, the synthesized near-infrared fluorescent molecules could provide a new direction for the development of optical imaging probes and potential further drugs.
