Multi-component synthesis and enhanced photophysical study of novel azolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine based dyes

A series of novel fluorophores were obtained based on azolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines (APs) through multicomponent and oxidation reactions, starting from aminoazoles, morpholineacrylonitrile, and 4-(dimethylamino)benzaldehyde. Photophysical studies, as well as DFT calculations have been performed for the obtained APs. Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) phenomenon was demonstrated for fluorophores containing an aromatic substituent at the C-2 position of the azolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine core. It was observed that fluorophore 6d exhibited reversible mechanochromic luminescence. Two-photon absorption cross-section was measured for all obtained APs. In addition, cell staining resulted in identical intracellular distribution under excitation at 405 nm, 488 nm and 561 nm. © 2024 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.