The use of metal nanoclusters as sensing probes has recently attracted considerable interest from researchers. In particular, metallic nanoclusters (e.g., Au, Ag, Cu, Pt) have been noticed a wide range of applications in the field of fluorescence sensing and bioimaging. The stabilization of metal nanoclusters with organic molecules, proteins, and amino acids enhances their optical properties and analytical applications. In this review, synthetic routes for the fabrication of metal nanoclusters are summarized. This review also describes the metal nanoclusters properties including aggregation-induced emission, optical absorption, non-linear optical, and chiral properties. We discussed the analytical applications of metal nanoclusters for sensing of wide variety of analytes including drugs, biomolecules, biomarkers. Further, the catalytic applications of metal nanoclusters are also briefly summarized. Finally, we summarize the challenges and future perspectives of metal nanoclusters in analytical chemistry.

使用金属纳米团簇作为传感探针最近引起了研究人员的极大兴趣。特别是，金属纳米团簇（例如，Au、Ag、Cu、Pt）在荧光传感和生物成像领域有着广泛的应用。用有机分子、蛋白质和氨基酸稳定金属纳米团簇，增强了它们的光学特性和分析应用。在这篇综述中，总结了制备金属纳米团簇的合成路线。这篇综述还描述了金属纳米团簇的特性，包括聚集诱导发射、光吸收、非线性光学和手性特性。我们讨论了金属纳米团簇在检测各种分析物（包括药物、生物分子、生物标志物）方面的分析应用。更远，还简要总结了金属纳米团簇的催化应用。最后，我们总结了金属纳米团簇在分析化学中的挑战和未来前景。