A series of potent BODIPY photosensitisers featuring tellurophene motifs at boron

Org Biomol Chem. 2024 May 22;22(20):4157-4162. doi: 10.1039/d4ob00546e.

Abstract

This article describes the synthesis and photophysical properties of a series of BODIPY photosensitisers that feature tellurophene motifs appended at the boron centre. These compounds were obtained via nucleophilic substitution of various F-BODIPYs with lithiated tellurophene. The synthetic scope, photophysical characteristics and photosensitisation properties are discussed. Structural modifications around the BODIPY core resulted in an eight-fold improvement in light IC50 values compared to previous designs.