Near-infrared BODIPY photosensitizers with symmetrical 2,6-diiodo 3,5-distyryl 1,2-Bis(2-pyridylmethoxy) benzene were synthesized to study the singlet oxygen (¹O₂) photosensitizing efficiency astriplet photosensitizer as well as fluorescent sensors for metal cation recognition. Moderate singlet oxygen(¹O₂) quantum yield (ϕ_Δ) was obtained for the photosensitizers. Emission intensity of the photosensitizersincreased ca. by 1.4-2-fold upon addition of Hg²⁺ and Fe²⁺ ions. The discussed results are useful to designnear-infrared photosensitizers with long lived triplet excited states for various applications such as PDT,fluorescent bioimaging and sensor materials.

Symmetrical 2,6-diiodo 3,5-distyryl 1,2-bis(2-pyridylmethoxy) benzene containing near-infrared (NIR) BODIPY photosensitizers were reported to screen the singlet oxygen (¹O₂) photosensitizing efficiency as triplet photosensitizer as well as fluorescent sensors for metal cation recognition.