3-Chloromethylpyridyl bipyridine fac-tricarbonyl rhenium: a thiol-reactive luminophore for fluorescence microscopy accumulates in mitochondria

The 3-chloromethylpyridyl bipyridine fac tricarbonyl rhenium cation is a thiol-reactive luminescent agent with a long luminescence lifetime and large Stokes shift that is demonstrated by colocalisation studies to accumulate in mitochondria. This represents the first application of a (MLCT)-M-3 luminescent agent for the specific targeting of a biological entity in imaging.