Quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones

Photophysical properties of quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones have long been neglected, in particular compared with those of coumarins, their oxygenated counterparts, despite their complementarity in terms of absorbance and fluorescence windows. This review provides first an overview of the synthesis of quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones, focusing on the most recent contributions. Fluorescence properties of quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones and of their π-extended derivatives are tackled through the description of a series of examples and applications, including chemosensing and biosensing.