Utilization of heavy metal complexes as phosphorogenic sensors for the detection of amino acids, (A Review)

Abstract

The use of phosphorogenic heavy-metal complexes has emerged as an attractive platform for luminescence sensing and cellular imaging studies as a result of several merits including precisely arranging the coordination structures and charge-transfer characteristics. This review intends to provide the design principles and the applications of amino acids sensing based on heavy-metal complexes such as Re(I)-, Ru(II)-, Ir(III)-, and Pt(II). These metal complexes function as phosphorogenic sensors with superior activities and selectivities towards amino acids by utilizing several mechanisms, including luminescent responses of "switch-on". Furthermore, the practical utility of long lifetime and cell permeability of these metal complexes allows to detect luminescence imaging of amino acids in living cells without interference from endogenous fluorophores.