Direct Olefination of Fluorinated Quinoxalines via Cross‐ Dehydrogenative Coupling Reactions: A New Near‐Infrared Probe for Mitochondria

A large library of 5,8‐distyrylquinoxaline fluorophores was synthesized in good‐to‐excellent yields via a palladium‐catalyzed oxidative C–H/C–H cross‐coupling of electron‐deficient fluorinated quinoxalines with electron‐rich styrenes. The resulting quinoxaline fluorophores (Qu‐Fluors) exhibited tunable color emissions with the quantum yields of up to 83% and large Stokes shifts of up to 6236 cm−1 in dichloromethane. The bioimaging performance of the Qu‐Fluors was shown to have potential as near‐infrared fluorescent probes for mitochondria.