Highly Efficient Deep-Red- to Near-Infrared-Absorbing and Emissive Benzo/Naphtho[b]furan-Fused Boron Dipyrromethene (BODIPY)

Two aryl-fused BODIPY dyes BF-BDP and NF-BDP were synthesized with benzofuran and naphtho[b]furan fusions on the alpha,beta-positions of the BODIPY skeleton, respectively, resulting in large linear conjugated structures. Both molecules were planar and were characterized as intense deep-red/NIR emitters with emission bands tunable by the solution concentration. Their emission bands were red-shifted to lambda=730 and 760 nm in vacuum-deposited films.