The results obtained over the past two decades by the staff of the Institute of Solution Chemistry, RAS, and future promising developments in the field of physical, inorganic, and supramolecular chemistry of dipyrromethene dyes and luminophores have been briefly described. The major attention is paid to the spectral and other practically significant characteristics of dipyrromethene ligands, salts, and stable coordination compounds responsible for their properties of chromophore and fluorescent chemosensors of analytes of various nature.

Photonics of complexes of p- and d-elements with dipyrromethenates is investigated. The role of substituents (their type and localization in the ligand) and of the medium in which dipyrromethenates are placed (solvents, gas mixtures, or solid matrices) is discussed as well as the effect of complexing agents on photonics of the examined complexes. The possibilities for dipyrromethenates application as liquid and solid state laser active media, sensor media for determining the oxygen concentration in a gas mixture, and photosensitizers for singlet oxygen generation in optical devices are presented.

Synthetic bis(dipyrromethene)s (H2L) is very promising compounds to create sensory systems due to a combination of spectral-luminescent and chelating properties which sensitive to structural and solvation effects. Reactions of H2L·2HBr salts with amines are accompanied by changes in the color of the solution and a clear show a transformations of H4L2+ salt spectrum in the H2L spectrum with a large (about 40 nm) difference between maxima of their intense bands which allows the use of 3,3'-bis(dipyrromethene) salts as colorimetric chemosensors of amines with sensitivity of detection upto 1·10–8 mol/l. The basis for the development of applied directions of using 3,3-bis(dipyrromethene)s as a fluorescent chemosensors of Zn2+, Cd2+ and Hg2+ ions is the bright coloristic effects, accompanying reactions of H2L with Zn(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II) salts, and significant differences in quantitative characteristics of the spectra of the complexes [M2L2] and ligands. Reactions of Zn(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II) salts with a weakly fluorescent bis(dipyrromethene) sensors are accompanied by the buildup (in 25–550 times) of fluorescence. The high sensitivity of fluorescence of d10-metal [M2L2] helikates to the properties of the environment became the basis for the development of the direction of creating fluorescent temperature sensors. The observed effect of the temperature dependence of fluorescence quantum yield of ethanol solutions of [Zn2L2] complexes is interest for the control of temperature (300–80 K). This is important in the development of cryostats or determining temperature of biomaterials cooled in them.

The effect of peripheral alkyl, aryl, and meso-aza substitution on the thermal stability of BODIPYs in an argon or oxygen atmosphere has been analyzed using thermogravimetric study results. It has been shown that an increase in the length of 2,6-alkyl substituents to seven carbon atoms is accompanied by the growth of BODIPY thermal stability by 80°C. The greatest increase in the destruction temperature of BODIPY (by 100°C) is attained via the introduction of phenyl groups in the 1,3,5,7-positions of its dipyrromethenmethene framework. meso -Aza substitution does not almost produce any effect on the thermal stability of BODIPY dyes. The BODIPY destruction beginning temperature decreases by 60–90°C in the presence of air oxygen. The thermal stability of BODIPY tends to decrease with reducing degree and symmetry of alkyl substitution in the dipyrromethene framework. A lower thermal stability of BODIPY in comparison with zinc(II) dipyrromethenates is due to the participation of fluorine atoms in intramolecular redox processes.

The spectral–luminescent, photophysical, and photochemical properties of dichloro-, dibromo-, and diiodo-derivatives of boron dipyrromethenate (BODIPY) have been studied, as well as the feasibility of generating singlet oxygen (1O2) via its photosensitization by the dihalogenated derivatives of BF2 dipyrromethene in solutions. Quantum yields of singlet oxygen have been determined using 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran as the 1O2 trap. The lowest fluorescence quantum yields have been shown to correspond to the maximum yields of singlet oxygen. It has been found that the best 1O2 photosensitizer among the three test dihalotetraphenylaza- BODIPY is dibromotetraphenylaza-BODIPY, which in addition possesses the highest photostability. Diiodotetramethyl-BODIPY results in the singlet oxygen yield close to unity, but it has significantly lower photostability. The yield of singlet oxygen is affected by the solvent. Dibromtetraphenylaza-BODIPY and diiodotetramethyl-BODIPY may find use as a medium in photodynamic therapy and photocatalysis of oxidation reactions.