A Study of Small Molecule-Based Rhodamine-Derived Chemosensors and their Implications in Environmental and Biological Systems from 2012 to 2021: Latest Advancement and Future Prospects

Abstract

Rhodamine-based chemosensors have sparked considerable interest in recent years due to their remarkable photophysical properties, which include high absorption coefficients, exceptional quantum yields, improved photostability, and significant red shifts. This article presents an overview of the diverse fluorometric, and colorimetric sensors produced from rhodamine, as well as their applications in a wide range of fields. The ability of rhodamine-based chemosensors to detect a wide range of metal ions, including Hg⁺², Al³⁺, Cr³⁺, Cu²⁺, Fe³⁺, Fe²⁺, Cd²⁺, Sn⁴⁺, Zn²⁺, and Pb²⁺, is one of their major advantages. Other applications of these sensors include dual analytes, multianalytes, and relay recognition of dual analytes. Rhodamine-based probes can also detect noble metal ions such as Au³⁺, Ag⁺, and Pt²⁺. They have been used to detect pH, biological species, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, anions, and nerve agents in addition to metal ions. The probes have been engineered to undergo colorimetric or fluorometric changes upon binding to specific analytes, rendering them highly selective and sensitive by ring-opening via different mechanisms such as Photoinduced Electron Transfer (PET), Chelation Enhanced Fluorescence (CHEF), Intramolecular Charge Transfer (ICT), and Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET). For improved sensing performance, light-harvesting dendritic systems based on rhodamine conjugates has also been explored for enhanced sensing performance. These dendritic arrangements permit the incorporation of numerous rhodamine units, resulting in an improvement in signal amplification and sensitivity. The probes have been utilised extensively for imaging biological samples, including imaging of living cells, and for environmental research. Moreover, they have been combined into logic gates for the construction of molecular computing systems. The usage of rhodamine-based chemosensors has created significant potential in a range of disciplines, including biological and environmental sensing as well as logic gate applications. This study focuses on the work published between 2012 and 2021 and emphasises the enormous research and development potential of these probes.

Keywords: Chemosensors; Colorimetric; Fluorometric; Rhodamine; Ring-opening.