Near-infrared II photoacoustic probes for nitric oxide sensing

In this chapter, we introduce a two-phase tuning approach for developing highly sensitive photoacoustic probes for imaging nitric oxide (NO) in the near-infrared (NIR)-II window. Due to the synthetically challenging nature of current NIR-II dye platforms, our two-phase tuning approach circumvents this issue by first allowing one to tune the reactivity using a synthetically accessible dye. We have used a physical organic workflow to understand the reaction kinetics and identify the most reactive sensing component. The selected reactive trigger is then introduced to phase two where it is appended to a range of well-established NIR-II dyes. This strategy is used to select the ideal photoacoustic probe for NIR-II imaging in vivo. Here, we have detailed procedures for synthesis, in vitro studies, and in vivo imaging.