Lanthanide complexes as photo probes for the assessment of some drugs in different body fluids

Abstract

Photonics broadly defined as the science and technology for understanding, controlling and exploiting the interaction of light and matter, furnishes enabling technologies for telecommunications, solar energy, lighting, displays, biotechnology, medical diagnostics, bio-imaging etc. Lanthanide ions hold a special place in photonics because of their unique photophysical properties, especially with respect to the generation and amplification of light. The luminescence of trivalent lanthanide ions (Ln3+‏) has been and is being studied in several scientific domains, ranging from laser physics to molecular biology. Many reviews have appeared, [Hemmilä, 1995; Parker and Williams, 1996; Gö rrler-Walrand et al., 1998; Jüstel et al., 1998; Adam, 2002; Kido and Okamoto, 2002; Kaminskii, 2003; Rocha and Carlos, 2003; Auzel, 2004; Wybourne, 2004; Parker, 2004; Hasegawa et al., 2004; Polman and Van Veggel, 2004 and Dossing, 2005] mostly focusing on specific aspects. Figure (1. 1) indicates how to find the lanthanides in the Periodic Table: they are in the ‘‘foot note’’. Lanthanide luminescence spectra are characterized by sharp peaks, whose spectral positions are independent of the embedding matrix, but whose intensities and fine structure may vary.