Metal-Azadipy multimodal Probes (MAP): find your way in vivo – MAP

Optical imaging, long regarded only as an in vitro tool, has recently gained an increasing interest for in vivo applications, especially for surgery assistance. Indeed, fluorescent contrast agents enable an accurate visualization in real time of nerves, vessels, diseased tissues (inflammation, tumor…), which ensure a better recovery for the patient and less relapses. However, most of the reported near infrared-emitting fluorophores – preferable for in vivo imaging – are long to synthesize, difficult to functionalize, display limited stability, and are very poorly soluble in aqueous media. Thus, there is an urgent need for new near-infrared fluorophores for in vivo optical imaging, especially for fluorescence-guided surgery. This project aims at developing a new class of fluorophores and multimodal probes able to meet these needs. More than just new fluorophores, the targeted compounds are likely to present novel and original photophysical and coordination properties.