Optical sensors for pollutants on cover of Chemical Communications

Optical sensors for pollutants on cover of Chemical Communications

A cover of Chemical Communications, with an illustration showing a chemical warfare molecule simulant binding to a host molecule.

Work from Paul Beer’s research group on developing novel optical sensors for toxic pollutants is featured on the front cover of the latest issue of ChemComm.

The study, by DPhil student Andrew Taylor, Dr Jamie Wilmore and Prof. Paul Beer (Chem. Commun., 2024, 60, 11916-11919) describes a hydrophobic pillar[5]arene (P5A) host molecule that demonstrates strong binding and optical sensing of toxic environmental pollutants.

The host molecule is decorated with fluorescent halogen bonding recognition sites, used to optically detect environmental pollutants.

This work exploits the threading of dicarboxylate ‘guest’ species through the central hydrophobic cavity of the P5A host, with negatively charged carboxylate groups bound by the halogen bonding sites. This leads to a marked optical fluorescence response upon guest binding.

Importantly, the combination of halogen bonding and hydrophobic effect enables the sensing of neutral guests, as well as anionic ones. The authors were therefore able to demonstrate the selective sensing of a simulant of the chemical warfare agent sulfur mustard, showing the utility of this approach for a range of toxic environmental pollutants.

Click here to read the paper. The cover artwork was designed and painted by Chemistry DPhil student Gurshinder Kaur.