Flavonoid compounds may be prepared that are selective for certain cell organelles, and may be used as biological imaging agents. Organelles that may be imaged with flavonoid compounds include mitochondria and lysosomes. Advantageously, the flavonoids show specificity to certain organelles and may exhibit a florescence “turn-on” mechanism, where the flavonoids that have target an organelle exhibit a florescence response when excited.
Biocompatible flavonoid compounds for organelle and cell imaging