Pillar[n]arene Derivatives as Sensors for Amino Acids
Roymon Joseph
Abstract
Abstract Owing to the involvement in various biological processes, developing sensors for the detection of amino acids is an important area of research. Pillar[n]arenes are elegant macrocyclic systems that have been used as potential host systems for various applications including the sensing of ions and molecules. Since its inclusion in 2008, pillar[n]arenes and its derivatives have received much attention among the researchers, and these molecular systems are used as excellent host systems for the formation of inclusion complexes with various guest molecules which have relevance both in chemistry and biology. Herein, we highlight the recent developments on the sensing of amino acids by pillar[n]arene derivatives. The majority of the sensors we discussed here detect amino acids by fluorescence techniques and their sensing was further supported by various other spectroscopic methods. In some cases sensing was achieved visually by the change in colour of the host system upon interaction with the amino acids.