Aromatic N-donor ligands as chelators and sensitizers of lanthanide ion emission

•We have reviewed N-donor heterocycles as sensitizers of lanthanide ion emission.•Terpyridine-based sensitizers are among the most studied and the published work deals increasingly with applications in bioimaging and sensing.•Work published with other N-donor ligands still involves mostly exploratory structure-property research.

Recent advances in the coordination of lanthanide ions and sensitization of their luminescence with aromatic N-donor ligands are presented.