Effects of Amino Group Substitution on the Photophysical Properties and Stability of Near-Infrared Fluorescent P-Rhodamines

A series of phosphine oxide-bridged rhodamines (P-rhodamines) bearing various acyclic and cyclic amine moieties, including dimethyl- and diethylamine, azetidine, pyrrolidine and 7-azabicyclo[2,2,1]heptane (7ABH), have been synthesized. The photophysical properties as well as chemical and photostability of these dyes have been studied in detail. Among these dyes, the 7ABH-substituted dye shows stronger fluorescence in the near-infrared (NIR) region, relative to the other P-rhodamines. This dye could be applied to live-cell imaging, wherein lysosomes were selectively stained in a pH-independent manner. It was also found that the ring fusion of the amine moieties gives rise to remarkably redshifted spectra, with absorption and emission maxima at 770 and 820 nm, respectively, spectrally close to that of indocyanine green (ICG). Importantly, the ring-fused P-rhodamines showed much higher photostability than ICG, indicative of their promising utility as the NIR-emissive dyes.