Goswami, P.P. et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 137, 3783–3786 (2015).

Photoremovable protecting groups, or photocages, are molecules that are covalently linked to a target molecule to inhibit its activity. Upon application of light treatment, the target molecule is released from the caged structure, thus activating its function. Photocages have become widely used in biological research. However, most are limited in terms of applications because they absorb ultraviolet light, which does not penetrate deeply into tissues and which can cause phototoxicity. Goswami et al. describe new BODIPY (boron-dipyrromethene)-based photocages that are activated with green light. They identified these photocages using a computational screening approach and showed that the photocages are functional in living Drosophila S2 cells. These new tools should provide a useful alternative to o-nitrobenzyl photocaging systems.