The extreme toxicity and ready accessibility of nerve agents and phosgene has caused an increase in the demand to develop effective systems for the detection of these substances. Among the traditional platforms utilized for this purpose, chemosensors including surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors, enzymes, carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles, and chromophore based sensors have attracted increasing attention. In this review, we describe in a comprehensive manner recent progress that has been made on the development of chromophore-based chemosensors for detecting nerve agents (mimic) and phosgene. This review comprises two sections focusing on studies of the development of chemosensors for nerve agents (mimic) and phosgene. In each of the sections, the discussion follows a format which concentrates on different reaction sites/mechanisms involved in the sensing processes. Finally, chemosensors uncovered in these efforts are compared with those based on other sensing methods and challenges facing the design of mor...

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acssensors.7b00816

Recent Advances in the Development of Chromophore-Based Chemosensors for Nerve Agents and Phosgene

Recent progress in fluorescent probes for detection of carbonyl species: Formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and phosgene

Recent advances of BODIPY based derivatives for optoelectronic applications

As a highly toxic and widely used chemical, phosgene has become a serious threat to humankind and public security because of its potential use by terrorists and unexpected release during industrial accidents. For this reason, it is an urgent need to develop facile, fast, and selective detection methods of phosgene. In this Article, we have constructed a highly selective fluorescent sensor o-Pab for phosgene with a BODIPY unit as a fluorophore and o-phenylenediamine as a reactive site. The sensor o-Pab exhibits rapid response (∼15 s) in both colorimetric and turn-on fluorescence modes, high selectivity for phosgene over nerve agent mimics and various acyl chlorides and a low detection limit (2.7 nM) in solutions. In contrast to most undistinguishable sensors reported, o-Pab can react with phosgene but not with its substitutes, triphosgene and biphosgene. The excellent discrimination of o-Pab has been demonstrated to be due to the difference in highly reactive and bifunctional phosgene relative to its subst...

BODIPY-Based Fluorescent Sensor for the Recognization of Phosgene in Solutions and in Gas Phase

Phosgene is a highly toxic substance that has become a serious potential threat to public health safety. A colorimetric and ratiometric fluorescence probe 1 for phosgene has been developed based on an ESIPT process. Both the visible colorimetric change from colorless to yellow and the fluorescent color change from blue to green (under 365 nm hand-held UV lamp) can be easily observed by the naked eye. Probe 1 has a high sensitivity and selectivity for phosgene in solutions and the gas phase. The mechanism for sensing by 1 was investigated by using high-resolution mass spectrometry and 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopies.

An ESIPT-Based Fluorescence Probe for Colorimetric, Ratiometric, and Selective Detection of Phosgene in Solutions and the Gas Phase.

The detection of highly toxic chemicals in a convenient, fast, and reliable manner is essential for coping with serious threats to humankind and public security caused by unexpected terrorist attacks and industrial accidents. In this paper, a highly selective fluorescent probe has been constructed through o-phenylenediamine covalently linking to coumarin (o-Pac), which can respond to phosgene in turn-on fluorescence mode. The response time is less than 0.5 min and the detection limit is as low as 3 nM in solutions. More importantly, the sensor exhibits good selectivity to phosgene over triphosgene and various acyl chlorides. Furthermore, a portable test paper has been fabricated with polystyrene membrane containing o-Pac for real-time selective monitoring of phosgene in gas phase.

Fluorescent Chemosensor for Selective Detection of Phosgene in Solutions and in Gas Phase

Hypochlorous acid (HClO) is a powerful microbicidal agent in the innate immue system; however, abnormal HClO levels can cause tissue damage and many diseases. Thus, it is vitally important to develop facile, rapid and accurate analytical methods for the detection of HClO/ClO−in vitro and in vivo. In this work, we have constructed three meso-substituted BODIPY selenides with different hydrocarbyl groups (ethyl for BSe-Et, benzyl for BSe-Bz and phenyl for BSe-Ph) as fluorescent probes for the detection of HClO/ClO−. All three non-fluorescent probes can sense HClO/ClO− to form fluorescent selenoxides by blocking the photo-induced electron transfer process. Their sensing properties display a clear relationship with the structure of the hydrocarbyl. The sensing reactivity is heavily dependent on the electron-donating ability of hydrocarbyls, with the order of the response time as BSe-Et (2 s) 100 s). Both BSe-Et and BSe-Bz afford a large fluorescence response and very low detection limits (0.3 nM and 0.8 nM), and BSe-Bz displays a higher selectivity over BSe-Et. Finally, as a representative, BSe-Bz was successfully applied to the detection of exo- and endogenous HClO in living cells, and demonstrated to be a mitochondria-localized fluorescent probe.

Xiang-Hong Xu

Papers

BODIPY-Based Fluorescent Sensor for the Recognization of Phosgene in Solutions and in Gas Phase

Fluorescent Chemosensor for Selective Detection of Phosgene in Solutions and in Gas Phase

BODIPY-based selenides as fluorescent probes for rapid, sensitive and mitochondria-specific detection of hypochlorous acid