Bringing Color to Sugars: The Chemical Assembly of Carbohydrates to BODIPY Dyes

The combination of carbohydrates with BODIPY fluorophores gives rise to a family of BODIPY-carbohydrate hybrids or glyco-BODIPYs, which mutually benefit from the encounter. Thus, from the carbohydrates standpoint, glyco-BODIPYs can be regarded as fluorescent glycoconjugate derivatives with application in imaging techniques, whereas from the fluorophore view the BODIPY-carbohydrate hybrids benefit from the biocompatibility, water-solubility, and reduced toxicity, among others, brought about by the sugar moiety. In this Account we have intended to present the collection of available methods for the synthesis of BODIPY-carbohydrate hybrids, with a focus on the chemical transformations on the BODIPY core.