Luminescent compounds

A composition of matter comprising a luminescent reporter compound according to the formula:

• wherein
• each Ra—Rf is independently selected from the group consisting of H, alkyl, alkoxy, amino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, halogen, sulfo, carboxy, formyl, acetyl, formylmethyl, sulfate, phosphate, phosphonate, ammonium, alkylammonium, cyano, nitro, azido, heterocyclic, substituted heterocyclic, reactive aliphatic and reactive aromatic groups;
• and
• wherein at least one pair of adjacent substituents (Ra, Rb), (Rb, Rc), (Rc, Rd), (Rd, Re), (Re, Rf), (Rf, Ra) is a substituted cyclic or polycyclic group W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6, W7, W8, W9;
• or
• at least one set of three substituents (Ra, Rb, Rc), (Rb, Rc, Rd), (Rc, Rd, Re), (Rd, Re, Rf), (Re, Rf, Ra) is a substituted cyclic or polycyclic group W9, W10, W11, W12;
• wherein
• each R1-R7 is independently selected from the group consisting of H, alkyl, alkoxy, amino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, halogen, sulfo, carboxy, formyl, acetyl, formylmethyl, sulfate, phosphate, phosphonate, ammonium, alkylammonium, cyano, nitro, azido, heterocyclic, substituted heterocyclic, reactive aliphatic and reactive aromatic groups
• X is selected from the group consisting of C(RB)(RC), O, S, Se, N—RA;
• Y is selected from the group consisting of CRA, N, +N—RA, O+, S+;
• Z1, Z2 are independently selected from the group consisting of ═O, ═S, ═Se, ═Te, ═N—RA, and ═C(RB)(RC)
• RA is selected from H, aliphatic groups, alicyclic groups, alkylaryl groups, aromatic groups, -L-Sc, -L-Rx, -L-R± among others.
• RB, RC are independently selected from H, aliphatic groups, alicyclic groups, alkylaryl groups, aromatic groups, -L-Sc, -L-Rx, -L-R± among others, or adjacent RB, RC form a cyclic group.
• L is a covalent linkage that is linear or branched, cyclic or heterocyclic, saturated or unsaturated, having 1-20 nonhydrogen atoms from the group of C, N, P, O and S, in such a way that the linkage contains any combination of ether, thioether, amine, ester, amide bonds;
• single, double, triple or aromatic carbon-carbon bonds;
• or carbon-sulfur bonds, carbon-nitrogen bonds, phosphorus-sulfur, nitrogen-nitrogen, nitrogen-oxygen or nitrogen-platinum bonds, or aromatic or heteroaromatic bonds;
• Rx is a reactive group;
• Sc is a conjugated substance;
• R± is an ionic group;
• A− is any anion;
• provided that the compound is luminescent and has a luminescence lifetime on the order of 4 nanoseconds (ns) or longer.