Based on the frequently-used cyanine dye probe thiazole orange (TO) and Cy3, a novel kind of styryl cyanine dye was designed and synthesized. Carbazole was inserted into the structures of two cyanine dyes, TO and Cy3, to act as a bridge to link the benzothiazole and indole. This modification resulted in a novel kind of carbozole benzothiazole indole cyanine dye with a carbazole-bridged chain. The dyes were characterized by HNMR and MS. The spectra of the novel dyes were also studied and the results showed that the fluorescence wavelength of novel carbazole benzothiazole indole cyanine dye shifted red, the Stokes shift and Fluorescence quantum yields increased and the fluorescence intensity was enhanced compared to that of TO. These results indicated that the novel dye could be used as an excellent fluorescent probe in biological labeling.
Keywords: Benzothiazole; Carbazole bridge chain; Fluorescent spectrum; Indole styryl cyanine dye.