Synthesis, Photophysical Study, and Biological Application Analysis of Complex Borondipyrromethene Dyes

[Image: see text] A series of complex boronic acids were prepared through multicomponent reactions (MCRs). Both Passerini and Ugi MCRs were carried out in which one component was an arylboronic acid. The resulting highly functionalized boronic acids participated efficiently in the Liebeskind–Srogl cross-coupling reaction with meso-methylthioBODIPY derivatives to yield complex borondipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes in good yields. The joined spectroscopic and computational study points out the deep impact of the arylated chromophoric position on the photophysical signatures. Thus, unconstrained aryls grafted at the meso position did not sway the spectral band positions but switched on new nonradiative relaxation channels, whereas additional arylation at the opposite α-pyrrolic position softened such fluorescence quenching and shifted the emission to the red-edge of the visible spectrum. The conducted biological analysis revealed that peripheral blood mononuclear cells incubated with these new compounds showed reduced cytotoxicity and retained their normal activities. Additionally, the dyes remained stable inside the cells after 24 h of incubation. These results demonstrated that these novel fluorescent probes based on BODIPY can be applied for cell imaging and analysis, expanding their applications.