摘要

Heavy and transition metallic ions exist widely in the nature. Some of them (such as copper and zinc) play important roles in the living system, and others (such as mercury, lead and cadmium) have high toxicity to the living plants and animals even in the low concentration. This review summarizes the main design principles of the fluorescent sensors for the metallic ions and the progress of the fluorescent molecular sensors for heavy and transition metallic cations with biological interests, especially their design, synthesis, performance and the applications in the living cells.