Final Report Summary - PORPH_IMP_SHG (Porphyrin-Based Dyes for Imaging Membrane Potential via Second Harmonic Generation)
A first generation of amphiphilic donor-acceptor meso-ethynyl porphyrins, with polar pyridinium acceptor head- groups and hydrophobic dialkyl-aniline donors has been synthesised and tested with the aim of exploring how different structural parameters such as charge on the head-group or meso-substituent affect both photophysical and biophysical properties. These compounds were first synthesised2 before the start of my fellowship, but I significantly improved their synthesis and carried out detailed experiments to explore their properties.