Abstract: Polydentate polycyclic compounds of various formulas are disclosed herein. The compounds are useful for ratiometric luminescence. Significantly, the compounds will luminesce at different wavelengths/colors, depending on the analyte (metal ion, acid, or boron-containing compound) it is combined with. Thus, a single compound can provide different luminescent outputs based on the analyte, rather than requiring an entire set of structurally different compounds to detect each analyte or to generate a desired color output.