Copper chemistry has been capitalized on in a wide spectrum of biological events. The central importance of copper in biology lies in the diverse chemical reactivity of the redox-active transition metal ranging from electron transfer, small molecule binding and activation, to catalysis. In addition to its many different roles in natural biological systems, the diverse chemical reactivity of copper also represents a rich opportunity and resource to develop synthetic bioanalytical tools for the study of biologically important species and molecules. In this mini-review, fluorescent probes featuring a specific copper-based chemical reaction to selectively detect a biologically relevant analyte will be discussed. In particular, fluorescent probes for sensing labile copper ions, amino acids and small reactive species will be highlighted. The chemical principles, advantages and limitations of the different types of copper-mediated chemical reactions in these fluorescent probes will be emphasized.

铜化学已被广泛应用于各种生物事件中。铜在生物学中的中心重要性在于氧化还原活性过渡金属的多种化学反应性，范围从电子转移，小分子结合和活化到催化。除了其在天然生物系统中的许多不同作用外，铜的多种化学反应性还为开发用于研究重要生物学物种和分子的合成生物分析工具提供了丰富的机会和资源。在本微型审查中，将讨论以特定的基于铜的化学反应为特征的荧光探针，以选择性地检测生物学上相关的分析物。特别是，将突出显示用于感应不稳定的铜离子，氨基酸和小的反应性物种的荧光探针。