Selective recognition and sensing of biologically important phosphates using triptycene-based anion receptors

Area of Science:

• Supramolecular Chemistry
• Chemical Biology
• Molecular Recognition

Background:

• Supramolecular chemistry aims to create receptors with biological receptor-level selectivity and efficiency.
• Achieving high selectivity for specific molecular guests is a persistent challenge in receptor design.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically investigate the anion-binding properties of triptycene-based receptors.
• To evaluate the selectivity of a triptycene receptor for various phosphate-containing anions.

Main Methods:

• Utilized fluorescence titration experiments to monitor anion binding.
• Synthesized and characterized triptycene-based receptor 1.
• Measured binding constants for receptor-anion interactions.

Main Results:

• Receptor 1 demonstrated strong selectivity for monophosphate anions from adenosine monophosphate (AMP), deoxyadenosine monophosphate (dAMP), and cytidine monophosphate (CMP).
• Binding constants for these monophosphates ranged from 6637 to 9576 M⁻¹.
• Receptor 1 showed no measurable binding to phosphate anions from cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) or adenosine diphosphate (ADP).

Conclusions:

• Triptycene-based receptor 1 exhibits significant selectivity for monophosphate anions over cyclic or diphosphate forms.
• This receptor design represents a promising advancement in developing synthetic receptors with enzyme-like specificity.
• The findings pave the way for new applications in selective anion recognition and sensing.