Radical C-H arylation of the BODIPY core with aryldiazonium salts: synthesis of highly fluorescent red-shifted dyes.

We describe herein the first radical C-H arylation of BODIPY dyes. This novel, general, one-step synthetic procedure uses ferrocene to generate aryl radical species from aryldiazonium salts and allows the straightforward synthesis of brightly fluorescent (Φ>0.85) 3,5-diarylated and 3-monoarylated boron dipyrrins in up to 86 % yield for a broad range of aryl substituents. In this way, new and complex dyes with red-shifted spectra can be easily prepared.