We have introduced Amberlite IRA 402(OH) mediated green synthesis of benzothiazolyl quinoline based fluorescent scaffolds (6a–l) for cancer theranostic application. Compounds 6 b (8-[2-(2-benzothiazol-2-yl-phenoxy)-ethoxy]-5,7-dibromoquinoline),6 d (8-[2-(2-benzothiazol-2-yl-phenoxy)-ethoxy]-5-chloro-7-iodoquinoline) and6 g (8-[2-(2-benzothiazol-2-yl-phenoxy)-propoxy]-5-chloroquinolin -e) demonstrated more or comparable cytotoxicity tocisplatin against all the tested cancer cell lines. Most of the synthesized compounds are 3–25 folds more selective in cancer cell line than normal fibroblast (MRC-5 or HEK-293). It was also evident that compound 6 a (8-[2-(2-benzothiazol-2-yl-phenoxy)-ethoxy]-quinoline) can be utilized as cancer theranostic agent since it has good quantum yield in water, significant cellular uptake, high potency and selectivity in all the cancer cell lines. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim