Fluorescent probes for pH and alkali metal ions

[Display omitted] •The important biological roles of pH balance and alkali metals in living systems are very crucial.•The design principles of pH-responsive fluorescent probes are summarized.•The design principles of alkali metals specific fluorescent probes are summarized.•These fluorescent probes showed good bioimaging manners and applications. The homeostasis of acid/base and alkali metal played critical roles in life process. To get insight into their functional mechanism, a large amount of detectors, especially based on organic fluorescent probes have been largely developed and used to monitor the dynamic changes of pH and alkali metal ions. Importantly, fluorescent probes provide a portable means to carry out a real-time determination and even a clinical diagnosis for abnormal pathological states. Over the past decades, numerous fluorescent probes for the pH and alkali metals analytes have been extensively developed and applied in living systems. In this review, we outlined the recent advances on fluorescent probes for pH and alkali metal ions containing their sensing mechanism, binding modes and application.