With the development of life sciences, a lot of energy has been put into the research on the pathological and physiological functions of intracellular reactive small molecules (RSMs). As an efficient technique suitable for visualization in vivo, confocal fluorescence imaging has been applied to the monitor of RSMs in biological samples. The near-infrared fluorescence imaging based on molecular probes and nano probes has shown attractive and extensive application prospect in virtue of low background, less cell photodamage, deeper penetration of tissue, and relatively high sensitivity. This review summarizes the recent progress on near-infrared fluorescent probes for cellular RSMs, of which reactive oxygen species, metal ions, H⁺, anion ions, and thiols are mainly introduced. Particularly, future study and prospect are envisioned. Contents
1 Introduction
2 Near-infrared fluorescent probes for reactive oxygen species
3 Near-infrared fluorescent probes for metal ions
4 Near-infrared fluorescent probes for pH
5 Near-infrared fluorescent probes for anion ions
6 Near-infrared fluorescent probes for thiols
7 Conclusion and outlook