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Abstract

This invention relates to improved fluorescent fatty acid analogs derived from dipyrrometheneboron difluoride ('BDY') dyes that absorb light at wavelengths longer than 480 nm. The BDY fluorophore or a derivative thereof is incorporated at various locations along the alkyl portion of the fatty acid ('BDY fatty acid'). The general formula of a BDY fatty acid is as follows: ##STR1## wherein at least one of the substituents R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3, R.sub.4, R.sub.5, R.sub.6 and R.sub.7 is a carboxylic acid terminated alkyl residue containing 5 to 22 carbon atoms. The remaining substituents, singly or in any combination, are: additional alkyl or arylalkyl residues containing 1 to 16 aliphatic carbon atoms, or aryl or heteroaryl residues, or hydrogen. Symmetrically substituted BDY fluorophores are conveniently synthesized from a single pyrrole precursor in a 'one-pot' reaction. Alternatively, BDY fatty acids are synthesized from two different pyrrole precursors. The combination of fatty acids with these electrically neutral, photostable, strongly colored, and mostly highly fluorescent BDY dyes having relatively narrow absorption and emission spectra results in an improved fluorescent probe particularly useful for studying natural and synthetic lipid membranes and related areas.

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