Abstract
Chemical warfare agents (CWAs) are toxic chemicals that have been intentionally developed for targeted and deadly use on humans. Although intended for military targets, the use of CWAs more often than not results in mass civilian casualties. To prevent further atrocities from occurring during conflicts, a global ban was implemented through the chemical weapons convention, with the aim of eliminating the development, stockpiling, and use of CWAs. Unfortunately, because of their relatively low cost, ease of manufacture and effectiveness on mass populations, CWAs still exist in today's world. CWAs have been used in several recent terrorist-related incidents and conflicts (e.g., Syria). Therefore, they continue to remain serious threats to public health and safety and to global peace and stability. Analytical methods that can accurately detect CWAs are essential to global security measures and for forensic analysis. Small molecule fluorescent probes have emerged as attractive chemical tools for CWA detection, due to their simplicity, ease of use, excellent selectivity and high sensitivity, as well as their ability to be translated into handheld devices. This includes the ability to non-invasively image CWA distribution within living systems (in vitro and in vivo) to permit in-depth evaluation of their biological interactions and allow potential identification of therapeutic countermeasures. In this review, we provide an overview of the various reported fluorescent probes that have been designed for the detection of CWAs. The mechanism for CWA detection, change in optical output and application for each fluorescent probe are described in detail. The limitations and challenges of currently developed fluorescent probes are discussed providing insight into the future development of this research area. We hope the information provided in this review will give readers a clear understanding of how to design a fluorescent probe for the detection of a specific CWA. We anticipate that this will advance our security systems and provide new tools for environmental and toxicology monitoring.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 601-662 |
| Number of pages | 61 |
| Journal | Chemical Society Reviews |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 23 Sept 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 21 Jan 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:W. Q. M. thanks the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82271916 and 81801869). K. X. thanks the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81871521). W. Q. M also wishes to thank Shanghai Municipal Health Commission-Outstanding Youth Foundation of Public Health (GWV-10.2-YQ18). X. P. H. thanks the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 91853201) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (222201717003) for financial support. TDJ wishes to thank the Royal Society for a Wolfson Research Merit Award and the Open Research Fund of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan Normal University for support (2020ZD01). J. Y. thanks to the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. 2022R1A2C3005420). M. X. S. thanks the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82103885). A. C. S. would like to thank the Glasstone Research fellowship (University of Oxford) and the major research grant from Jesus College, Oxford for support.
Name National Research Foundation of Korea Fundref 501100003725 Ror https://ror.org/013aysd81 Name National Natural Science Foundation of China Fundref 501100001809 Ror https://ror.org/01h0zpd94 Name Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities Fundref 501100012226 Name Henan Normal University Fundref 100009555 Ror https://ror.org/00s13br28
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry
