Monovalent, clickable, uncharged, water-soluble perylenediimide-cored dendrimers for target-specific fluorescent biolabeling.

Herein we report the synthesis of water-soluble polyglycerol-dendronized perylenediimides with a single reactive group that undergoes high-yielding click reactions. Single-molecule studies and target-specific biolabeling are reported, including the highly specific labeling of proteins on the surface of living bacterial and mammalian cells.