Interest in colored substances has changed radically over time. While until the middle of the last century, the main goals of research were potential applications in the textile and photonic industries, nowadays due to their unique photophysical and photochemical properties, dyes have grown in particular relevance to several fields of science: technology engineering, pharmacology, medicine, and the environment for its application in new forms of renewable energy. The expansion and unlimited variation that can be made in the base molecular structures of the most diverse classes of dyes in an attempt to enhance and improve their applicability in a given scientific field and/or application has been widely reported in recent studies that demonstrate their broad spectrum of potential uses and their high promise. Thus, this Special Issue has as its primary challenge the dissemination of information regarding the design and synthesis of new dyes which, regardless of their structure type, should be studied in relation to their photophysical, photochemical, and, when appropriate, photobiological properties in order to prove their relevance in some applications, such as solar organic cell sensitizers, photochromic materials, liquid crystal displays, organic light-emitting devices, organic semiconductors, dye-affinity chromatography for the proteins and enzymes purification, fluorescent sensors and photodynamic therapy photosensitizers. Review articles and communications addressing these topics are also welcome.
Keywords: Synthesis of new dyes; Physical and chemical properties; Photochemical, ecological, or biological studies; Structure-activity relationships.