A review of the synthetic strategies for the development of BODIPY dyes for conjugation with proteins.

Conjugation of fluorophores to proteins is fundamental to several biotechnological applications and in the last decades boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes started to be used in this field. BODIPYs are dipyrrin derivatives complexed to difluoroboryl that possesses several attractive photphysical properties. Herein we reviewed the synthetic methodologies published by academic and non-academic research groups aiming the obtainment of reactive BODIPY derivatives for conjugation with proteins.