Highly Selective Chemical Vapor Sensing by Molecular Recognition: Specific Detection of C1-C4 Alcohols with a Fluorescent Phosphonate Cavitand
Fiat lux on alcohols: Molecular-level resolution was achieved for the detection of short-chain alcohols in the vapor phase using a fluorescent cavitand sensor. The transduction mechanism, activated exclusively by the complexation mode, is provided by the change of the electronic density on the fluorophore caused by the formation of an intracavity hydrogen bond between the cavitand P=O and the alcohol OH group.
F. Maffei et al., Angewandte Chemie International Edition 50, 4654 (2011)
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As most organic and polymer-based sensors detect analytes mainly on the basis of polarity, the approach described herein is a viable solution to the general problem of discriminating analytes by chemical class, rather than by polarity, in vapor sensing. This approach can be extended to many different classes of organic receptors, thus opening the way for the rational design of sensor materials as function of the analytes to be detected. |
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Highly Selective Chemical Vapor Sensing by Molecular Recognition: Specific Detection of C1–C4 Alcohols with a Fluorescent Phosphonate Cavitand; Maffei, F., Betti, P., Genovese, D., Montalti, M., Prodi, L., De Zorzi, R., Geremia, S. and Dalcanale, E., Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 50: 4654–4657. doi: 10.1002/anie.201100738 |
