Synthesis and characterization of new coumarin-based caging groups

Abstract

Light is an ideal trigger for controlling the outcome of molecular processes with high spatiotemporal precision and without causing damage to the living system. Owing to these promising properties, the incorporation of photoremovable protecting groups (PPGs; also commonly referred as caging groups) in key positions of the molecule whose activity has to be inhibited temporarily, have found widespread attention in recent years. Among molecules with suitable characteristics to be used as PPGs, coumarin-based COUPY fluorophores are particularly appealing owing to their interesting spectroscopic and photophysical properties, such as absorption and emission in the far-red/near-infrared (NIR) region. In this work, we have focused on the synthesis and characterization of two new COUPY-caged model compounds with the aim of exploring the development of a new family of caging groups with red-shifted absorption and emission