Simple Colorimetric Chemosensor Array for Oxyanions: Quantitative Assay for Herbicide Glyphosate

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Environmental Science
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Accurate oxyanion determination is crucial for understanding metabolic processes and diseases.
• Existing methods often lack on-site capability, sensitivity, and user-friendliness.
• There is a need for advanced sensors for environmental and health monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop the first colorimetric chemosensor array for detecting various anions, including glyphosate.
• To achieve on-site analysis with high sensitivity and user-friendliness.
• To demonstrate the sensor's capability in analyzing real-world samples.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a coordination binding-based sensor array (CBSA) strategy with a Zn2+ metal ion and catechol dye.
• Employed competitive coordinative bonding between the metal ion, dye, and target anions.
• Applied chemometrical techniques: Linear Discrimination Analysis (LDA) for pattern classification and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for regression.

Main Results:

• The chemosensor array demonstrated a fingerprint-like response for different anions.
• Successfully detected glyphosate in commercial herbicide and tap water samples.
• Achieved sensitive and user-friendly on-site analysis.

Conclusions:

• The developed colorimetric chemosensor array offers a promising solution for on-site anion detection.
• The CBSA strategy combined with chemometrics provides a robust platform for complex sample analysis.
• This sensor technology has potential applications in environmental monitoring and disease diagnostics.