Electronic Effect-Tuned Cooperativity of Multiple Noncovalent Interactions for Specific Detection of ADB-Type...

ADB-type synthetic cannabinoids (SCs), as a major category of new psychoactive substances, have posed global concerns due to their high abuse potential and detrimental health and social stability effects, and their rapid and accurate in situ analysis is particularly challenging when they appear in concealed forms. Here, the strategy of electronic effect tuning cooperativity of multiple noncovalent interactions was proposed for the specific detection of ADB-type SCs, a class of structurally stable yet reactive inert analytes. The optimized probe HBO-Ph, for the first time, achieved ratiometric fluorescence detection of ADB-type SCs by effectively suppressing excited-state intramolecular proton transfer and promoting intramolecular charge transfer, showcasing unparalleled detection capabilities with a low detection limit of 24.3 nM and a rapid response in 1 s. Moreover, a sensor featuring a solid-liquid separation architecture was designed to enable the rapid detection of ADB-type SCs in real-world situations, unaffected by 24 possible interfering substances. This cooperative regulation method is expected to shed light on the exploration of noncovalent interaction-based probe design strategies and provide a new approach to analyzing target molecules with limited active sites, thereby greatly promoting the present drug detection technologies.