A series of novel nitro and amino molecules (boldFont">Z1-Z3 and boldFont">L1-L3) had been synthesized.
The photophysical properties were systematically investigated.
boldFont">Z1-Z3 possessing excellent two-photon absorption cross-section were measured by Z-scan method.
boldFont">L1-boldFont">L3 were applied to monitor mitochondria in living cells (HepG2) and zebrafish 3D imaging.