Boranil: a new easily accessible, versatile and highly fluorescent dye

International audienceComplexation of a large variety of Anils (aniline-imines) with boron(III) precursors provides stable Boranils. This method enables to obtain a new family of fluorophores with good yields, starting with cheap and commercially available compounds. Analysis of optical properties of these dyes reveals that the fluorescence stems from an intra-ligand charge transfer (ILCT) state with the best quantum yields reaching 90%. Interestingly Boranils are also chemically versatile and allows the design of a large variety of dyes with modulated properties. For instance, grafting of photoactive modules such as BODIPY, HBO borates complexes or subphthalocyanine fluorophores, opens the way to use Boranils in multichromophoric systems