Process and Technology Development Division, Defence Research & Development Establishment, Jhansi Road, Gwalior 474002, India.
Chem Commun (Camb). 2021 Apr 11;57(28):3430-3444. doi: 10.1039/d1cc00132a. Epub 2021 Mar 16.
The existence of chemical weapons (blister and nerve agents) is an unfortunate reality of the modern world. The usage of these chemical agents by rogue states or terrorist groups has showcased their ugly faces in the past and even in recent years. Despite extensive and strenuous efforts by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to eliminate chemical warfare agents (CWAs) by the prohibition of their production and the destruction of their stockpiles, many countries still possess them in enormous quantities. Given the potential threat from these lethal agents, it is imperative to have a foolproof chemical sensor and detection system, which should consist of readily deployable chemical probes that can operate with high specificity and sensitivity. Over the last decade, our group has been engaged in designing and developing novel field-deployable sensing techniques by exploring approaches based on supramolecular tools, which can result in excellent specificity, sensitivity, high speed, portability and low cost. In this article, I describe our group's journey and success stories in the development of chemical warfare detection protocols, detailing the range of unique chemical probes and methods explored to achieve the specific detection of individual agents under real environmental conditions. It is interesting to note that the combination of three molecular probes (SQ, Fc and LH2) could simply achieve the detection of all CWAs at room temperature in one go without the need for nonportable and expensive instruments. The ease and generality of these techniques/methods suggest great promise for the highly specific chemical sensing of almost the entire class of CWAs. In this paper, a brief introduction is first provided to present the basic chemistry related to CWAs and the importance of supramolecular chemistry in the design of new protocols with new insights. The manipulation of molecular probes is then debated towards the development of a system for the chromo-fluorogenic sensing of CWAs without interference from most relevant analytes. Finally, the outlook of open challenges and the future developments of this rapidly evolving field is discussed.
化学武器（糜烂性和神经性毒剂）的存在是现代世界不幸的现实。过去甚至近年来，流氓国家或恐怖组织使用这些化学制剂已经暴露出其丑恶嘴脸。尽管禁止化学武器组织（OPCW）为消除化学战剂（CWA）进行了广泛而艰苦的努力，禁止其生产和销毁其库存，但许多国家仍拥有大量库存。鉴于这些致命制剂的潜在威胁，拥有可靠的化学传感器和检测系统至关重要，该系统应包括可操作的高特异性和高灵敏度的易部署化学探头。在过去十年中，我们的小组一直在探索基于超分子工具的方法来设计和开发新型现场可部署传感技术，这些方法可以产生出色的特异性、灵敏度、高速度、便携性和低成本。在本文中，我描述了我们小组在开发化学战剂检测协议方面的历程和成功故事，详细介绍了为在实际环境条件下实现对单个制剂的特定检测而探索的一系列独特化学探头和方法。有趣的是，三个分子探头（SQ、Fc 和 LH2）的组合可以简单地实现所有 CWA 的室温一次性检测，而无需使用非便携和昂贵的仪器。这些技术/方法的简便性和通用性表明，它们在高特异性化学传感几乎整个 CWA 类别方面具有很大的应用前景。本文首先简要介绍了与 CWA 相关的基本化学知识以及超分子化学在设计新协议方面的重要性。然后，对分子探针的操纵进行了讨论，以开发用于 CWA 的显色荧光传感系统，该系统不受大多数相关分析物的干扰。最后，讨论了该快速发展领域的开放性挑战和未来发展前景。
