heteroaryl scaffold, leading to cyan-green emitting coumarins that were both water-soluble and strongly fluorescent under physiological conditions. The further extension of this condensation reaction to bis(2-aminophenyl)diselenide enabled the first synthesis of 3-(2-benzoselenazolyl)-7-hydroxycoumarin. The potential utility of these new 7-hydroxycoumarins was demonstrated through the synthesis and spectroscopic