Design strategy and recent progress of fluorescent probe for noble metal ions (Ag, Au, Pd, and Pt)

[Display omitted] •Design strategies for noble metal ion specific fluorescent probes were elaborated systemically.•Supra/macromolecular platforms based fluorescent probes were summarized detailedly.•Recent progress, existing problems, challenges, and promising development prospects were presented. Noble metals including Ag, Au, Pd, and Pt were widely applied in various aspects of human social life, industrial manufacture, healthcare, and scientific research. The ion form of these noble metals not only possess positive biological activity but also reveals serious biotoxicity owing to their outstanding coordination/reaction capability upon various bioactive molecules. Detecting noble metal ions in the environmental and biological systems is of great significance for environmental governance and human health. As an efficient method, assaying noble metal ions through the fluorescent probe is experiencing a vigorous development period and has emerged a large number of excellent researches. This review provides an overview of the design strategies of noble metal ion specific fluorescent probes based on various recognition mechanisms. Furthermore, the existing problems, challenges, and promising development directions in this area were presented.