Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2025

Imaging Approaches to Assessments of Toxicological Oxidative Stress Using Genetically-encoded Fluorogenic Sensors
Published on: February 7, 2018
Bioimaging agents based on redox-active transition metal complexes
Shan-Shan Xue1, Yingbo Pan1, Wei Pan1
1College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Key Laboratory of Molecular and Nano Probes, Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Functionalized Probes for Chemical Imaging in Universities of Shandong, Institute of Molecular and Nano Science, Shandong Normal University Jinan 250014 P. R. China lina@sdnu.edu.cn tangb@sdnu.edu.cn.
Abstract:
Detecting the fluctuation and distribution of various bioactive species in biological systems is of great importance in determining diseases at their early stages. Metal complex-based probes have attracted considerable attention in bioimaging applications owing to their unique advantages, such as high luminescence, good photostability, large Stokes shifts, low toxicity, and good biocompatibility. In this review, we summarized the development of redox-active transition metal complex-based probes in recent five years with the metal ions of iron, manganese, and copper, which play essential roles in life and can avoid the introduction of exogenous metals into biological systems. The designing principles that afford these complexes with optical or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging properties are elucidated. The applications of the complexes for bioimaging applications of different bioactive species are demonstrated. The current challenges and potential future directions of these probes for applications in biological systems are also discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human...
Redox Titration: Other Oxidizing and Reducing Agents
Redox Reactions
Redox Titration: Overview
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Complexometric Titration: Overview

