Lanthanoplatins: emissive Eu(iii) and Tb(iii) complexes staining nucleoli targeted through Pt-DNA crosslinking.

Two highly luminescent water-soluble heterometallic LnPt2 complexes, [{cis-PtCl(NH3 )2 }2 Ln(L)(H2 O)](NO3 )2 (Ln = Eu (1), Tb (2)), have been designed for their selective nucleoli staining through formation of Pt-DNA crosslinks. The complexes showed significant cellular uptake and distinctive nucleoli localization through intrinsic emission from EuIII or TbIII observed through confocal fluorescence microscopy.