Novel glycoconjugated squaraine dyes for selective optical imaging of cancer cellsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c6cc10282d

Novel glycoconjugated squaraine dyes were synthesized, which exhibited excellent internalization in tumor cells and are potent fluorogenic imaging probes for tumor selective optical imaging. Glycoconjugated squaraine dyes for selective internalisation in cancer cell lines are reported. The cancer cell selectivity was achieved through the "Warburg effect".