Supramolecular Sensing of Chemical Warfare Agents

Chemical warfare agents are a class of organic molecules used as chemical weapons due to their high toxicity and lethal effects. For this reason, the fast detection of these compounds in the environment is crucial. Traditional detection methods are based on instrumental techniques, such as mass spectrometry or HPLC, however the use of molecular sensors able to change a detectable property (e. g., luminescence, color, electrical resistance) can be cheaper and faster. Today, molecular sensing of chemical warfare agents is mainly based on the "covalent approach", in which the sensor reacts with the analyte, or on the "supramolecular approach", which involves the formation of non-covalent interactions between the sensor and the analyte. This Review is focused on the recent developments of supramolecular sensors of organophosphorus chemical warfare agents (from 2013). In particular, supramolecular sensors are classified by function of the sensing mechanism: i) Lewis Acids, ii) hydrogen bonds, iii) macrocyclic hosts, iv) multi-topic sensors, v) nanosensors. It is shown how the supramolecular non-covalent approach leads to a reversible sensing and higher selectivity towards the selected analyte respect to other interfering molecules.