Patent ID: 8906694

Claim:
A method of detecting nitric oxide (NO) in a sample, comprising: a) contacting the sample with a complex of formula (I) or formula (II): and b) measuring a fluorescence of the resulting mixture, wherein a change in fluorescence after contact with the sample, compared to the fluorescence of the complex of formula (I) or formula (II) in the absence of the sample, indicates the presence of NO in the sample, wherein M is a transition metal; each L is a ligand independently selected from the group consisting of CO, tetrahydrofuran, triflate, an alkoxide, nitrate, nitrite, chloro, sulfate, amine, phosphine, phosphite, a pi-bound alkene, an alcohol, a ketone, an ether, a thiol, a thioether, a nitrile, an isonitrile, an amide, a thioamide and a solvent; N—N is a bidentate nitrogen containing ligand; and N—N—Y is a tridentate nitrogen containing ligand and Y is a metal-coordinating moiety.