Abstract

This chapter describes the properties of luminescent lanthanide complexes that can be used in biological solutions for luminescence based labelling applications. The particular photo-physical specifications of this family of luminescent labels will be described, followed by the chemical and physico-chemical requirements necessary to reach high luminescence and good labelling activity. Following these criteria, examples of the literature will be detailed, following a classification based on the chemically activated function used in the labelling process.

Keywords: Lanthanide labels, bioconjugation, spectroscopic properties, microscopy, europium, terbium, N-hydroxySuccinimide (NHS), fluoro-immunoassays, Electronic transitions