BODIPY-phosphane as a versatile tool for easy access to new metal-based theranostics.

A new BODIPY-phosphane was synthesized and proved to be a versatile tool for imaging organometallic complexes. It also led to easy access to a new family of theranostics, featuring gold, ruthenium and osmium complexes. The compounds' cytotoxicity was tested on cancer cells, and their cell uptake was followed by fluorescence microscopy in vitro.