Multifunctional fluorescent probes are designed and developed for simutanously detecting multiple analytes, monitoring complex biological events, evaluating environment-related parameters in living cells, as well as in theranostic. Obviously, this feature affords the “killing two birds with one stone”-small molecule fluorescent probes with extensive capabilities compared with the single functional sensors, and surely, more attention will be paid to the former in the forthcoming future. In this review, we focused on the different functions, design principles, sensing mechanisms and biological applications of such probes. We also highlighted the challenges and future research directions in this rapidly developing field. We hope that some insights and inspiration for future research will boost the promotion and evolution of “killing two birds with one stone”-small molecule fluorescent probes.

多功能荧光探针的设计和开发可用于同时检测多种分析物，监测复杂的生物事件，评估活细胞以及诊断中与环境相关的参数。显然，与单功能传感器相比，此功能提供了“用一只石头杀死两只鸟”-具有广泛功能的小分子荧光探针，并且肯定的是，在不久的将来将更加关注前者。在这篇综述中，我们重点研究了这类探针的不同功能，设计原理，传感机制和生物学应用。我们还重点介绍了这个快速发展领域中的挑战和未来的研究方向。