Detection of Lysosome by a Fluorescent Heterocycle: Development of Fused Pyrido-Imidazo-Indole Framework via Cu-Catalyzed Tandem N-Arylation

J Org Chem. 2018 Nov 2;83(21):13011-13018. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.8b01513. Epub 2018 Oct 16.

Abstract

Fluorescent active small molecules for organelle-specific bioimaging are in great demand. We synthesized 20 different pyrido-imidazo-indole fused heterocycles (6-5-5-6 ring) via copper catalyzed tandem N-arylation reaction in moderate to good yields. Due to decent fluorescent property, lysosome-directing moieties were attached on two of these heterocycles. Delightfully, those molecules tracked lysosome with bright blue fluorescence and colocalized with a known lysosome marker (Lysotracker Red) in human/murine cells. Therefore, it may be considered as a rapid (10 min) lysosome staining probe.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't