Chemosensors combinatorial approaches

Mello JV, Finney NS (2005) Reversing the discovery paradigm a new approach to the combinatorial discovery of fluorescent chemosensors. J Am Chem Soc 127 10124-10125... 

Despite the remarkable progress in the field of molecular recognition, it is still extremely difficult to predict a priori the structure of a selective, high-affinity ligand for a metal ion such as Hg ". The approach we intend to pursue is to take advantage of combinatorial chemistry methods—a collection of technical advances that allow one to seriously consider undertaking the synthesis of hundreds or even thousands of compounds simultaneously —to carry out the parallel synthesis of a set of fOO potentially selective high-affinity fluorescent chemosensors for mercury. 

The analyte can hardly be identified if the sensor substrate induces only weak and unspecific interactions. A new approach to overcome these problems is the development, using supramolecular chemistry, of sensor materials which allow the production of selective chemosensors. A large number of supramolecular receptors can be prepared by means of combinatorial chemistry [12], but the selective receptors described so far, such as cyclodextrins and calixarenes, offer only a relatively small number of distinct variations. 

The past five years have seen the development and introduction of new and improved approaches to the combinatorial sciences, their practical applications having resulted in an almost explosive increase in the number of experimental publications and new journals devoted exclusively to these areas. Thus, a comprehensive book which emphasizes the state of the art of most of the methods and instrumentation of combinatorial chemistry may be of value to those who may consider entering this exciting field. It is possible also that experts in combinatorial organic chemistry may find it interesting to examine more closely exciting new fields such as catalyst research, chemosensor development, new analytical tools, and the creation of biodiversity. 

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