Coupled Polymethine Dyes: Six Decades of Discoveries

This review provides a comprehensive examination of the applications of the seminal coupling principle introduced by Siegfried Dähne and Dieter Leupold in 1966. Their heuristic and groundbreaking work proposed that combining multiple polymethine subunits within a single chromophore enables orbital coupling, consequently narrowing the HOMO-LUMO gap, and yielding redshifted optical properties. These outcomes are particularly valuable for developing organic dyes tailored for visible-to-near-infrared applications. Despite their potential, coupled polymethines remain relatively underexplored, with most reported instances being serendipitous discoveries over the last six decades. In light of this, our review compiles and discusses the reported coupled polymethine structures, covering synthetic, spectroscopic, theoretical and applicative aspects, offering insights into the structure-property relationships of this unique class of dyes and perspectives for their future applications.