Patent ID: 7842823

Claim:
A pro-fluorescent compound having the formula: wherein A and E are members independently selected from substituted or unsubstituted aryl wherein said substituted aryl is substituted with a group selected from halogen, R′, ═O, —OR′, ═NR′, —NR′R″, —NR″C(O)R′, —CONR′R″, —CO 2 R′ and —OC(O)R′, wherein R′ and R″ are independently selected from H and (C 1 -C 8 ) alkyl; X is O; Z is a member selected from CR 5 , C(O), NR 5 and substituted or unsubstituted heterocycloalkyl wherein R 5 is a member selected from H, unsubstituted alkyl, and substituted or unsubstituted aryl, wherein said substituted aryl is substituted with a group selected from halogen, R′, ═O, —OR′, ═NR′, —NR′R″, —NR″C(O)R′, —CONR′R″, —CO 2 R′, —OC(O)R′, and a linker covalently attached to a member selected from a reactive functional group and a carrier selected from the group consisting of synthetic polymers and biomolecules, wherein R′ and R″ are independently selected from H and (C 1 -C 8 ) alkyl; and said substituted heterocycloalkyl is substituted with a group selected from halogen, ═O, —OR′, ═NR′, —NR′R″, —NR″C(O)R′, —CONR′R″, —CO 2 R′, —OC(O)R′, and a linker covalently attached to a member selected from a reactive functional group and a carrier selected from the group consisting of synthetic polymers and biomolecules, wherein R′ and R″ are independently selected from H and unsubstituted alkyl; y is an integer selected from 0 and 1; q and r are members independently selected from 1, 2 and 3; and R 1 , R 1′ , R 2 , R 2′ , R 3 , R 3′ , R 4 and R 4′ are members independently selected from H, unsubstituted alkyl, and unsubstituted heteroalkyl.