Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) compounds display a photophysical phenomenon in

which the aggregate state exhibits stronger emission than the isolated units. The common term of

“AIEgens” was coined to describe compounds undergoing the AIE effect. Due to the recent interest

in AIEgens, the search for novel hybrid organic–inorganic compounds with unique luminescence

properties in the aggregate phase is a relevant goal. In this perspective, the abundant, inexpensive,

and nontoxic d10 zinc cation offers unique opportunities for building AIE active fluorophores, sensing

probes, and bioimaging tools. Considering the novelty of the topic, relevant examples collected in

the last 5 years (2016–2021) through scientific production can be considered fully representative of

the state-of-the-art. Starting from the simple phenomenological approach and considering different

typological and chemical units and structures, we focused on zinc-based AIEgens offering synthetic

novelty, research completeness, and relevant applications. A special section was devoted to Zn(II)-

based AIEgens for living cell imaging as the novel technological frontier in biology and medicine.