Supramolecular optical chemosensors for organic analytes

Supramolecular optical chemosensors are abiotic molecular devices that bind analytes by noncovalent interactions, producing a change in light absorption or fluorescence. This review summarizes recent progress in the development of such chemosensors for organic analytes based on artificial receptors. Important design considerations, such as analyte affinity, choice of chromophore or fluorophore, binding selectivity, and optical signaling mechanism are briefly discussed. Chemists have fashioned chemosensors from a wide range of molecular structures, including polyalcohols, crown ethers, calixarenes, helicenes, sterically geared tripods, metal complexes, pinwheels, porphyrins, and fused-ring heterocycles. Analytes of interest include amines, carboxylic acids, amino acids, hydroquinones, alkaloids, carbohydrates, peptides, urea and creatinine.