Photophysical properties and applications of coordination complexes incorporating pyrene

•Overview of diverse photophysical properties of coordination complexes with pyrene.•Discussion of the effect of the coordination mode of pyrene on emission behaviour.•Applications of pyrene-containing coordination complexes.

Pyrene is a well-known aromatic hydrocarbon with unique photophysical properties that have been extensively studied. Coordination of pyrene and pyrene-containing ligands to metal centres gives rise to diverse photophysical behaviour that cannot be observed in pyrene alone. This review summarizes the photophysics of pyrene-containing coordination complexes, and examples of applications where these complexes are useful are discussed.