Recent advances in molecular fluorescent probes for organic phosphate biomolecules recognition

Abstract Organic phosphate biomolecules (OPBs) are indispensable components of eukaryotes and prokaryotes, such as acting as the fundamental components of cell membranes and important substrates for nucleic acids. They play pivotal roles in various biological processes, such as energy conservation, metabolism, and signal modulation. Due to the difficulty of detection caused by variety OPBs, investigation of their respective physiological effects in organisms has been restrained by the lack of efficient tools. Many small fluorescent probes have been employed for selective detection and monitoring of OPBs in vitro or in vivo due to the advantages of tailored properties, biodegradability and in situ high temporal and spatial resolution imaging. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in fluorescent probes for OPBs, such as nucleotides, NAD(P)H, FAD/FMN and PS. Importantly, we describe their identification mechanisms in detail and discuss the general strategies for these OPBs probe designs, which provide new insights and ideas for the future probe designs.