Difluorobora-s-diazaindacene dyes as highly selective dosimetric reagents for fluoride anions

Difluorobora-s-diazaindacene derivatives are shown to report fluoride ions selectively in acetone solutions; both absorption and emission characteristics are drastically altered, and as a result, this hitherto unknown reaction transforms the BODIPY® class of dyes into highly selective chromogenic and dual channel fluorogenic reagents for fluoride.