Two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) is widely sought after in bioimaging applications due to its exceptional deep tissue penetration and excellent high spatiotemporal resolution. In this paper, benzothiazole and benzimidazole are linked to N, N-diphenylaniline, respectively, through pyridine vinyl. Two new D-π-A (electron donor-π conjugated bridges-electron acceptor) probes (P1, P2) were designed and synthesized. The molecular structures were completely characterized through FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, ESI-MS, and X-ray single crystal diffraction. The probes have good one-photon excited fluorescence and two-photon excited fluorescence. Experimental test results indicate that they can be fluorescence probes for biological imaging of HePG2 and juvenile zebrafish. In addition, the fluorescent probes also have the ability to target and locate cancer cell mitochondria.
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