The widespread uptake and use of emissive metal ion complexes for investigating cellular structure, composition and function, is evidence of the effectiveness and vast potential for this type of imaging probe. Metal ion complexes provide significant advantages over their organic fluorophore counterparts, including long emission lifetime, resistance to photobleaching and the capacity to readily modify their peripheral chemistry to target specific organelles, signalling pathways and individual molecules. This review will discuss recent progress in the development and use of metal ion complexes, specifically for studying metabolic diseases at the cellular level. Advanced metal ion complexes for organelle imaging and the detection of biorelevant species, to elaborate complexes for understanding cellular mechanisms and recent therapeutic applications will be reviewed. To align with the special issue, Coordination Chemistry Reviews: Coordination Chemistry in Australia, the work of Australian researchers actively engaged in this field is featured prominently, along with key developments from the global research community.

发射性金属离子络合物的广泛吸收和使用以研究细胞的结构，组成和功能，证明了这种成像探针的有效性和巨大潜力。金属离子配合物比其有机荧光团对应物具有显着的优势，包括较长的发射寿命，抗光漂白性以及易于改变其外围化学性质以靶向特定细胞器，信号传导途径和单个分子的能力。这篇综述将讨论金属离子络合物的开发和使用的最新进展，特别是在细胞水平上研究代谢性疾病。用于细胞器成像和生物相关物种检测的高级金属离子配合物，复杂的复合物，以了解细胞机制和最近的治疗应用将进行审查。为了与《协调化学评论：澳大利亚的协调化学》这一特刊相吻合，澳大利亚研究人员积极致力于该领域的工作与全球研究界的重要进展相结合，具有突出的特色。