Supramolecular Detection of a Sub-ppm Nerve Agent Simulant by a Smartphone Tool

Roberta Puglisi; Rossella Santonocito; Ester Butera; Giulia Lorenza Mendola; Andrea Pappalardo; Giuseppe Trusso Sfrazzetto

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c03759

Supramolecular Detection of a Sub-ppm Nerve Agent Simulant by a Smartphone Tool

ACS Omega. 2023 Oct 3;8(41):38038-38044. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c03759. eCollection 2023 Oct 17.

Authors

Roberta Puglisi¹, Rossella Santonocito¹, Ester Butera¹, Giulia Lorenza Mendola¹, Andrea Pappalardo^{1

2}, Giuseppe Trusso Sfrazzetto^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, Catania 95125, Italy.
² INSTM Udr of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, Catania 95125, Italy.

Abstract

The widespread use of smartphones and related tools is extending their applications in several fields. Herein, we report a reusable smartphone coupled portable detection system for the sensing of sub-ppm level of a nerve agent mimic (dimethylmethylphosphonate) in the gas phase. The detection system is based on multiple hydrogen-bond interactions of the vapor analyte with an ad-hoc functionalized Bodipy chromophore scaffold. The multitopic approach used for the molecular recognition of DMMP leads to the highest binding constant values, high selectivity, and low limits of detection.