The hydroxyl radical (•OH), as one of the most reactive radical species, plays dual roles in both environmental and biological sciences, making its precise detection crucial. Fluorescence probes have emerged as powerful tools for real time, non-invasive, highly sensitive and selective detection of •OH. This review provided a systematical overview of •OH fluorescence probes, categorized based on their fundamental reaction types, including oxidation, hydrogen abstraction and aromatic hydroxylation. For each category, specific recognition groups and representative probes were discussed in detail, highlighting their response mechanisms, analytical properties, advantages, limitations and applicabilities. Finally, the future perspectives on potential directions for the development of •OH probes were presented. It is expected that this review would provide readers interested in •OH probes with a comprehensive understanding of this topic.
Li et al. (2026) studied this question.