Sensing/sensors lanthanide luminescence

It is clear from the many examples discussed in this chapter that lanthanide lununescent sensors, probes and imaging agents have established themselves as a major player within the field of luminescent sensing. And we can only foresee that the role of these rare-earth ions will continue to grow in the years to come, and that the field of lanthanide luminescence sensing has a very bright and varied future. 

Cation recognition by luminescence sensing has also been reported. As referred to above, release and recapture of alkali and alkaline earth metal ions for [(bpy)Re(CO)3L ]+, where Lj contains an azacrown ether [63] was controlled by light. A sensor for lanthanide ions is shown in Fig. 27. The photoactive center was RcI( bpy ) and its emission was quenched by the lanthanide ion [119]. 

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