Evaluation of Steric Effects for Faster BEPs (BODIPY Ethylene Probes)

Ethylene is a hormone released during key life cycle events in plants 和 commonly associated with fruit ripening. 最近, the Michel Group has reported fluorescent small molecule probes for the detection of ethylene through a selective reaction-based approach. To improve the sensitivity 和 selectivity of these probes, it is necessary to synthesize analogues 和 evaluate how structural changes will influence their photophysical properties such as limit of detection 和 fluorescence turn-on. A series of advancements upon original BODIPY Ethylene Probes BEP-4 和 BEP-5 have provided evidence that faster reaction kinetics results in a probe that is more sensitive to ethylene. To further evaluate this hypothesis, we developed a synthetic route for a target probe BEP-3, with the goal of determining if steric effects would significantly impact ethylene sensitivity. Early photophysical data on BEP-3 demonstrates rapid reaction with ethylene 和 a turn-on with ethylene similar to previous fast-initiating probes in the Michel Lab. Additional evaluation of the ethylene detection ability of BEP-3 will be presented including limit of detection 和 kinetic profile data.