Cyclotriphosphazene cored naphthalimide-BODIPY dendrimeric systems: Synthesis, photophysical and antimicrobial properties

[Display omitted] •Synthesis of new Naphthalimide-BODIPY-cyclotriphosphazene dendrimeric systems.•Investigation of photophysical properties.•The antimicrobial activity of dendrimeric systems were screened against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. In this work, we report the synthesis and characterization of novel fluorescent naphthalimide (NI)-boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyads and dendrimeric triad systems, based on NI functionalized mono- and distyryl- BODIPY derivatives with cyclotriphosphazene core. The structures of new dyads and triad systems were characterized by 1H, 13C and 31P NMR. Spectroscopic properties including absorption, emission profiles, fluorescence quantum yield and fluorescence lifetime of NI-BODIPY dyads and NI-BODIPY-cyclotriphosphazene triads were investigated via UV–Vis absorption and fluorescence emission (2D and 3D) techniques. The NI groups on BODIPYs 3- and 5-positions procure the red-shift in absorption and emission spectra compared to BODIPY core. The energy transfer process inhibited the emission of NI moiety and induced the fluorescence from BODIPY unit. The dendrimeric mono- and di-styryl NI-BODIPY-cyclotriphosphazene systems (7 and 8) presented intense absorption bands about 570 and 639 nm respectively both excited from NI and BODIPY subunits. Also, the triad systems (7 and 8) were screened against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. The results demonstrated that naphthalimide-BODIPY-cyclotriphosphazene triads had an antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus.