Green-Light Responsive Perylene Bisimides for Atom-Economic Thiol Generation and Click-Ligation.

Novel methylthiophene/benzo[ b ]thiophene perylene bisimide thiol-precursors that would generate thiols via a green-light-induced (λ exc = 530 nm, φ re = 0.33) photorearrangement are presented herein. The "no-wash", photoreleased thiols thus enabled a subsequent thiol-ene click ligation with electron-deficient substrates. Moreover, by virtue of the intrinsic fluorescence evolution from the rearrangement of perylene bisimide scaffolds, the whole process of thiol formation could be self-reported, further potentiating themselves with application versatilities.