Black phosphorus (BP) atomic layers, also called phosphorene, has triggered a recent renaissance of interest owing to its unique structure as well as fascinating optical and electronic properties. Several good reviews have been published in the past two years either concerning its physical and mechanical properties or electronic and optoelectronic applications. Herein, we offer our opinions from chemists' viewpoints on this emerging two-dimensional (2D) nano-material. A relatively comprehensive summarization for the recent advances of phosphorene is given, including the basic properties, fabrication features and promising applications especially the applications in chemical and biochemical analysis which have not been so widely mentioned in the past works. We also briefly discuss the drawbacks and limitations of phosphorene, and give a short outlook on the future directions. This tutorial review will be a desirable enlightenment for the new coming researchers and also inspire the fellow researchers to explore more appealing chemical characteristics and potentials of phosphorene especially toward chemical sensing and biochemical applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.