Molecules 2008, 13, 986-994 molecules ISSN 1420-3049 © 2008 by MDPI www.mdpi.org/molecules Full Paper Fluorinated Analogs of Malachite Green: Synthesis and Toxicity George A. Kraus 1,*, Insik Jeon 1, Marit Nilsen-Hamilton 2, Ahmed M. Awad 2, Jayeeta Banerjee 2 and Bahram Parvin 3 1 Iowa State University Department of Chemistry, Ames, IA 50011, USA; Tel. +1 515-294-7794; Fax: +1 515-294-0105 2 Iowa State University Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Ames, IA 50011, USA; Tel. +1 515-9996; Fax: +1 515-294-0453 3 Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Department of Cancer Biology, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA; Tel. +1 510-486-6203; Fax: +1 510-486-6363 * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-mail:
[email protected] Received: 21 March 2008; in revised form: 22 April 2008 / Accepted: 22 April 2008 / Published: 27 April 2008 Abstract: A series of fluorinated analogs of malachite green (MG) have been synthesized and their toxicity to Saccharomyces cerevisiae and a human ovarian epithelial cell line examined. The toxicity profiles were found to be different for these two species. Two analogs, one with 2,4-difluoro substitution and the other with 2-fluoro substitution seem to be the most promising analogs because they showed the lowest toxicity to the human cells. Keywords: Malachite Green; Malachite Green analogs; Bathochromic shift; Toxicity; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; human ovarian epithelial cells. Introduction We are developing a new procedure for real-time imaging of gene expression. It involves a nucleic acid probe that can be used in conjunction with a 18F-labeled target molecule to image gene expression in vivo [1].