Pyrene‐Appended Luminescent Probes for Selective Detection of Toxic Heavy Metals and Live Cell Applications

Abstract Heavy metal contamination has become a global environmental problem and currently drawn much attention from researchers in worldwide. High exposure to heavy metals can lead to problems like kidney, liver and brain damage, skin and lung cancer, etc. Rapid and sensitive detection of heavy metals is of immense importance in environmental monitoring. Over the past few decades, enormous efforts have been made to design various sensors to identify and monitor these harmful metal ions. In Comparison with other methods, fluorescence‐based chemosensors have received extensive attention because of the advantages of high sensitivity, low cost, real‐time monitoring, simple operation, etc. The pyrene derivatives are significant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with strong fluorescence. They are widely used as fluorescent probes in many applications due to their easy modification, high fluorescence quantum yield, and strong fluorescence emission in live cells, outstanding cell permeability, and very low cytotoxicity. The SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation alarm a strong strategy, and careful identification of the risk connected to environmental pollutants needs urgent attention in this situation. Therefore, we highlight different types of pyrene‐based fluorophores and the fluorescence mechanisms for the sensitive and selective detection methodology of Arsenic, Mercury, Cadmium, Lead, and Chromium heavy metals.