A series of tunable fluorophores combining the pyrene nucleus and the 2,2′-bipyridine ligand
unit are presented. They were designed to display luminescence tuning upon metal ion complexation. The
effects are strongly affected by the nature of the covalent bridge linking the two subunits. The intensity, the
color, but also the lifetime of the luminescence emission are features that can be finely modulated depending
on the molecular structure, the nature of the solvent and the metal cation. This approach provides accesss
to a new class of photosensitive receptors for applications in chemosensing, optoelectronic, or solar energy
storage and conversion.