Advances in Coumarin Fluorescent Probes for Medical Diagnostics: A Review of Recent Developments

This review summarizes recent advances (2023-2025) in coumarin-based fluorescent probes, highlighting their structural modularity, tunable VIS-NIR photophysics, and broad applicability in detecting metal ions, biothiols, ROS/RNS, organelle-specific microenvironments, and amyloid-β aggregates. Particular emphasis is placed on multifunctional and organelle-targeted probes, as well as emerging NIR-emissive and theranostic systems enabling deep-tissue imaging and modulation of pathological processes. The perspectives section outlines current limitations and future directions toward clinically relevant coumarin-based imaging tools. A though the review focuses on literature published from 2023 onward, several…