A series of lanthanide complexes of [LnL(H2O)] composition, suitable for biological labeling has been studied, in which L is a strongly chelating ligand containing chromophoric bipyridylcarboxylate units and Ln = Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, and Dy. For the Gd complex, a combined 17O NMR and 1H NMRD study has been performed. The water exchange rate obtained, kex298 = (5.2 ± 0.6) × 106 s-1, is slightly higher than those for [Gd(dota)(H2O)]- or [Gd(dtpa)(H2O)]2-. Transformation of the uncoordinated carboxylate function of the ligand into an activated ester ensures covalent linking of the complex to bovine serum albumine (BSA). The relaxivity properties of the Gd complex labeled on BSA revealed a limited increase of both longitudinal and transversal relaxivities. This can be related to the partial replacement of the inner-sphere water molecules by coordinating functions of the protein. Additionally, the Sm and Dy complexes are described and chemically characterized. Their photophysical properties were investigated by means of absorption, steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy, evidencing efficient photosensitization of the lanthanide emission by ligand excitation (antenna effect). Luminescence lifetime measurements confirmed the presence of a water molecule in the first coordination sphere that partly explained the relatively poor luminescence properties of the Dy and Sm complexes in aqueous solutions. The spectroscopic properties of the series of complexes are questioned in terms of time-resolved acquisition techniques. Finally, their availability for use in time-resolved luminescence microscopy is demonstrated by staining experiments of rat brain slices, where the complex showed enhanced localization in some hydrophilic regions of the blood-brain barrier (BBB).