Tide Fluor™8 (TF8) family has the spectral properties similar to those of IRDye 800. Their fluorescence is pH-independent from pH 3 to 11. These characteristics make this new dye family more robust to pH-sensitive assays. In some cases TF7-labeled peptides and nucleotides exhibit stronger fluorescence and higher photostability than the ones labeled with IRDye 800. In pairing with our Tide Quencher™ 8 (TQ8), a variety of FRET peptides and nucleotides can be developed for detecting proteases and molecular beacons with enhanced sensitivity and stability.