Organoselenium compounds as fluorescent probes

• Organoselenium flouroprobes for molecules, cations and anions reviewed.
• Organoselenium compounds act as fluoroprobes for biologically important thiols and ROS.
• High reactivity of Se compounds make them suitable probe via various chemical reactions.

Fluoroprobes are compounds which detect analytes (neutral molecules and ions) by simple, inexpensive, and fast fluorimetric responses. In this review, we provide insights into the development of new organoselenium compounds as fluoroprobes for detecting various analytes. These organoselenium fluoroprobes are capable of metal cation and anion recognition, live cell imaging, and measuring biological activities. Organoselenium fluoroprobes have certain advantages over N-, O-, and S-based fluoroprobes due to the special properties of selenium. Selenium-containing compounds have higher reactivity during their reactions, including oxidation, elimination, and reactions with nucleophiles and electrophiles, while they also exhibit low oxidation potentials, which have been exploited for sensing important neutral molecules (such as thiols) and ions (mercury and silver cations, and peroxynitrite anions).