Selective detection of gasotransmitters using fluorescent probes based on transition metal complexes.

In this work, the updated literature on fluorescent probes based on transition metal complexes used to detect and quantify biologically relevant analytes is reviewed. Special emphasis is made on the so-called gasotransmitters CO, H 2 S & NO and HNO, exploring the different techniques and strategies currently available. • Gasotransmitters are endogenous signalling molecules which include CO, H 2 S and NO. • They transmit chemical signals which induce physiological or biochemical changes. • Fluorescent probes based on transition metal complexes make powerful detection tools. • A variety of sensing mechanisms based on different reactivities are discussed. The signalling agents involved in cellular communication display wide chemical diversity. During the last decades, the rise of a new group of transmitters instigated the revision of traditional concepts of intercellular signalling. Gasotransmitters are a family of soluble molecules, either endogenously synthesized or from exogenous origin, which transmits chemical signals that can induce certain physiological or biochemical changes. These small reactive (and usually transient) species are constantly being produced, trafficked, consumed or transformed in biological environments. Fluorescent probes based on transition metal complexes offer powerful tools to study chemical reactions in the laboratory, through in vitro experiences, and well as the in vivo biochemistry of gasotransmitters in their native environments, as long as minimal disturbance to living systems is ensured. Fundamental organic, organometallic and inorganic reactivity principles, combined with an eye towards biological imaging applications, have given rise to a variety of new chemical tools for probing the complex roles of small molecules in physiology and pathology. In this work, we present different compounds and tactics to use such probes for the detection and quantification of these biologically relevant chemical analytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]