Highly efficient BODIPY-doped upconversion nanoparticles for deep-red luminescence bioimaging in vivo.

We demonstrate a 3,5-di(p-oxethyl)styryl conjugated BODIPY showing deep-red upconversion luminescence with a high efficiency of 16.6%. Furthermore, water-soluble BODIPY-doped upconversion nanoparticles with efficiency up to 6.9% under low excitation power density (∼1 mW cm−2) are developed and enable high-performance bioimaging in vivo.