The design of fluorescent sensors for anions: taking profit from the metal–ligand interaction and exploiting two distinct paradigms
Abstract
Fluorescent sensors are molecular systems consisting of a receptor moiety and of a fluorogenic fragment, which are capable of recognising a given analyte and signalling recognition through a variation of the emission intensity. The fluorogenic fragment responsible of the signal can be associated to the receptor either covalently or non-covalently, giving rise to two well distinct classes of fluorosensors and sensing paradigms. The design of fluorescent sensors is described, with a special attention to the sensing of anionic groups (including those of