New 3-(heteroaryl)-2-iminocoumarin-based borate complexes: synthesis, photophysical properties, and rational functionalization for biosensing/biolabeling applications.

Members of a series of boron difluoride complexes with 3-(heteroaryl)-2-iminocoumarin ligands bearing both a phenolic hydroxyl group (acting as a fluorogenic center) and an N-aryl substituent (acting as a stabilizing moiety) have been synthesized in good yields by applying a straightforward two-step method. These novel fluorogenic dyes belong to the family of "Boricos" (D. Frath et al., Chem. Commun.- 2013, 49, 4908-4910) and are the first examples of phenol-based fluorophores of which the photophysical properties in the green-yellow spectral range are dramatically improved by N,N-chelation of a boron atom. Modulation of their fluorescence properties through reversible chemical modification of their phenol moieties has been demonstrated by the preparation of the corresponding 2,4-dinitrophenyl (DNP) ethers, which led to a dramatic "OFF-ON" fluorescence response upon reaction with thiols. Additionally, to expand the scope of these "7-hydroxy-Borico" derivatives, particularly in biolabeling, amine or carboxylic acid functionalities amenable to (bio)conjugation have been introduced within their scaffold. Their utility has been demonstrated in the preparation of fluorescent bovine serum albumin (BSA) conjugates and "Borico"-DOTA-like scaffolds in an effort to design novel monomolecular multimodal fluorescence- radioisotope imaging agents.

Investigating fluorescent dyes in fluorescence-assisted screenings.

Screening of bead-based peptide libraries against fluorescent dye-labeled target proteins was found to be significantly influenced by the dye characteristics. Commercially available red fluorescent dyes with net negative charges adversely showed strong interactions with library beads. The introduction of zwitterionic dyes significantly reduced the unwanted interactions, which sheds light upon using the right fluorescent probe for acquisition of reliable results in various fluorescence-assisted applications.

Bioconjugatable azo-based dark-quencher dyes: synthesis and application to protease-activatable far-red fluorescent probes.

We describe the efficient synthesis and one-step derivatization of novel, nonfluorescent azo dyes based on the Black Hole Quencher-3 (BHQ-3) scaffold. These dyes were equipped with various reactive and/or bioconjugatable groups (azido, α-iodoacetyl, ketone, terminal alkyne, vicinal diol). The azido derivative was found to be highly reactive in the context of copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reactions and allowed easy synthetic access to the first water-soluble (sulfonated derivative) and aldehyde-modified BHQ-3 dyes, the direct preparation of which failed by means of conventional azo-coupling reactions. The aldehyde- and α-iodoacetyl-containing fluorescence quenchers were readily conjugated to aminooxy- and cysteine-containing peptides by the formation of a stable oxime or thioether linkage, respectively. Further fluorescent labeling of the resultant peptide conjugates with red- or far-red-emitting rhodamine or cyanine dyes through sequential and/or one-pot bioconjugations, led to novel Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) based probes suitable for the in vivo detection and imaging of urokinase plasminogen activator, a key protease in cancer invasion and metastasis.

Water-soluble red-emitting distyryl-borondipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes for biolabeling.

A series of water-soluble red-emitting distyryl-borondipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes were designed and synthesized by using three complementary approaches aimed at introducing water-solubilizing groups on opposite faces of the fluorescent core to reduce or completely suppress self-aggregation. An additional carboxylic acid functional group was introduced at the pseudo-meso position of the BODIPY scaffold for conjugation to amine-containing biomolecules/biopolymers. The optical properties of these dyes were evaluated under simulated physiological conditions (i.e., phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.5) or in pure water. The emission wavelength (λ(max)) of these labels was found in the 640-660 nm range with quantum yields from modest to unprecedentedly high values (4 to 38%). The bioconjugation of these distyryl-BODIPY dyes with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and the monoclonal antibody (mAb) 12A5 was successfully performed under mild aqueous conditions.

New insights into the water-solubilisation of fluorophores by post-synthetic "click" and Sonogashira reactions.

New synthetic methodologies for the efficient chemical conversion of hydrophobic fluorescent dyes into bioconjugable and water-soluble derivatives are described. The combined use of an original sulfonated terminal alkyne and a metal-mediated reaction, namely the copper-catalysed Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition ("click" reaction) or the Sonogashira cross-coupling, is the cornerstone of these novel post-synthetic sulfonation approaches.

N-Fmoc-α-sulfo-ß-alanine: a versatile building block for the water solubilisation of chromophores and fluorophores by solid-phase strategy.

An easy and efficient solid-phase synthesis strategy to obtain rapidly water-soluble chromophores/fluorophores in highly pure form has been developed. This first successful use of N-Fmoc-α-sulfo-ß-alanine as a SPPS building block opens the way to the future development of promising direct "on-resin" peptide labelling and water-solubilising methods.

Water-solubilisation and bio-conjugation of a red-emitting BODIPY marker.

The synthesis and preliminary bio-conjugation studies of a novel water-soluble red-emitting di-styryl BODIPY dye are disclosed. Aggregation behaviour of this compound under physiological conditions was suppressed by specific introduction of a di-sulfonated peptide-based linker at the meso phenyl substituent, sultonated styryl arms and short polyethyleneglycol chains at the boron center. Thus, a good quantum yield of 22% in PBS for this red-emitting BODIPY was obtained. Introduction of an activated ester function enabled successful bio-conjugation to monoclonal antibodies and proteins.