Submission Date

7-25-2025

Document Type

Paper- Restricted to Campus Access

Department

Chemistry

Faculty Mentor

Ryan R. Walvoord

Comments

Presented during the 27th Annual Summer Fellows Symposium, July 18, 2025 at Ursinus College.

This research was supported by Organic Synthesis, Inc. through a 2024-2025 Research Grant for Faculty at Principally Undergraduate Institutions.

Project Description

Fluorescent molecules are powerful due to their role in biological imaging and detection. Rhodols are a family of fluorophores that have desirable properties for fluorescent tools and have a variety of uses in biological imaging, including pH sensing. However, these compounds are underexplored due to current limitations in their synthesis. The goal of this research is to design a direct synthetic route from fluorescein, an inexpensive fluorescent compound, into rhodols. This research describes a novel method to directly convert fluorescein to rhodols. This approach provides a one step process to install the key C-N bond under mild, metal-free conditions. The rhodols were characterized by their photophysical properties by their corresponding absorbance and fluorescence spectra. The described concise synthetic route allows for rapid access to various types of rhodols for application in fluorescent tools.

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