A quinacridone derivative with intensive emission in both solution and the solid state via a facile preparation for cell imaging applications

tert-Butyloxycarbonyl (TBOC) substituted quinacridone (QA) derivative TBOC-QA was synthesized via a one-step simple chemical reaction and showed intense emission in both solution and the solid state. Furthermore, the water-soluble nanoparticles (NPs) TBOC-QA/Pluronic® 127 possess robust photostability, little toxicity and good cell labeling performance.