A series of 3,5-bis(hetero)arylethenyl-substituted BODIPY derivatives have been prepared by Knoevenagel-type condensation alkyl-substituted with the corresponding aldehydes. 2-Pyrrolylethenyl-substituted feature near-IR emission (?em > 700 nm) a high fluorescence quantum yield. Both maxima and yields are relatively insensitive to solvent polarity, contrary near-IR-emitting 4-(N,N-dimethylaminop...