Metal–Carbonyl Units for Vibrational and Luminescence Imaging: Towards Multimodality

Metal–carbonyl complexes are attractive structures for bio-imaging. In addition to unique vibrational properties due to the CO moieties enabling IR and Raman cell imaging, the appropriate choice of ancillary ligands opens up the opportunity for luminescence detection. Through a classification by techniques, past and recent developments in the application of metal–carbonyl complexes for vibrational and luminescence bio-imaging are reviewed. Finally, their potential as bimodal IR and luminescent probes is addressed.