The unparallelede xcited-state potential-energy landscape of the chromium(III)-based dye [1] 3 + + ([Cr(ddpd) 2 ] 3 + ;d dpd = N,N'-dimethyl-N,N'-dipyridin-2-ylpyridin-2,6-diamine) enables as trong dual emission in the near infrared region. The temperature dependence of this dual emission allows the use of [1] 3 + + as an unprecedented molecular ratiometric thermometer in the 210-373 Kt emperature range in organic and in aqueous media. Incorporation of [1] 3 + + in biocompatiblen anocarriers, such as 100 nm-sized polystyrene nanoparticles and solutol micelles, providesn anodimensional thermometers operating under physiological conditions. Optical sensing of physicochemical quantities, such as temperature (T), pressure, oxygen concentration, or pH, is of tremendous importance in many fields.[1] Applications requiring T sensing range from biology( e.g.,i ntracellular thermometry) [2] and medicald iagnostics (e.g.,p oint-of-care diagnostics [3] using amplifyinge nzymatic reactions) [4] to chemical synthesis (e.g., microfluidics [5] ), and materials sciences (e.g., T-sensitive paints [6] for spatial sensing in wind tunnels). Optical T measurements utilizing T-dependentf luorometric parameters, such as luminescence intensity (or intensity ratios) and lifetime, have been achieved with different classes of molecular and nanoscale emitters. [1c, d] Examples are polymerbased nanoparticles, [7] lanthanide-based nanocrystals, [8] and DNA-based systems, such as molecular beacons (MBs). [9] Fluorometric T sensing can be done nonratiometrically,e xploiting the T sensitivity of the fluorescencei ntensity of as ingle-emissionb and (e.g.,r hodamine B), [10] which is prone to artefacts due to fluctuationsi n, for example, excitation light intensity,o rr atiometrically requiring two emission bands, one being T sensitive and one not responding to changes in T for signal referencing.R atiometric T sensing can be achieved with three design concepts:a )a combination of two emissive dyes (T-responsive probe and T-inert reference);b )acombination of two dyes whichi nteract by ad istance-dependent process, such as fluorescencer esonance energy transfer (EnT) in systems, in which dye distance is modified by T;a nd c) as ingle dye displaying dual emission (Figure 1).[1] Scenario a) is commonly achievedb ycombining two organic fluorophores in af ixed ratio, fore xample, within nanoparticles ( Figure 1a). Both dyesm ust be excitable at the same wavelength and shows pectrally distinguishable emission bands to allow separating andi ntegrating the luminescence signals for the calculation of the excitation light intensity-independent Tsensitivequotient I probe /I ref .Fluorescent T sensors, which exploit T-dependent structural features communicated as changes in fluorescencei ntensity of the reporter dyes are fluorophore-labeled MBs ( Figure 1b). [9] These flexible single-stranded oligonucleotides are either dually labeled att heir 5'-a nd 3'-ends with af luorophore and an onemissive quencher( nonratiometric M...