Fluorescent Boronic Acid-Based Sensors for Saccharide Detection
Summary
Fluorescent boronic acid-based sensors exploit the reversible covalent interaction between boronic acid moieties and vicinal diols, a structural motif ubiquitous in saccharides. Upon formation of a cyclic boronate ester, changes in the electronic environment of an appended fluorophore lead to modulation of emission intensity or wavelength. This enables real-time, non-invasive detection of monosaccharides such as glucose and fructose in aqueous media. Advances in sensor design have focused on enhancing selectivity among closely related sugars, improving water solubility and biocompatibility, and tuning fluorescence response through mechanisms such as photoinduced electron transfer, internal conversion suppression or vibration-induced emission. Practical applications span medical diagnostics, live-cell imaging and environmental monitoring, with ongoing efforts to integrate these receptors into hydrogels, microfluidic devices and implantable platforms.
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Fluorescent Boronic Acid-Based Sensors for Saccharide Detection publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in fluorescent boronic acid-based sensors for saccharide detection across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Boronic acid: An organoboron compound bearing one or more B(OH)2 groups that forms reversible covalent bonds with diols.
Diol: An organic molecule containing two hydroxyl (–OH) groups on adjacent carbon atoms, characteristic of saccharides.
Cyclic boronate ester: A five- or six-membered ring formed by condensation of a boronic acid with a diol, central to saccharide recognition.
Fluorescence turn-on: An increase in emission intensity triggered by analyte binding, allowing sensitive detection.
Photoinduced electron transfer (PET): A quenching mechanism in which excited electrons transfer between donor and acceptor units, modulated by receptor binding.
Ratiometric fluorescence: A method that employs two emission wavelengths to provide built-in calibration and quantitative measurement.
References
- Molecular Boronic Acid-Based Saccharide Sensors. ACS Sensors (2021).
- Arresting “Loose Bolt” Internal Conversion from −B(OH)2 Groups is the Mechanism for Emission Turn-On in ortho-Aminomethylphenylboronic Acid-Based Saccharide Sensors. Journal of the American Chemical Society (2018).
- Reversible Recognition-Based Boronic Acid Probes for Glucose Detection in Live Cells and Zebrafish. Journal of the American Chemical Society (2023).
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