Nanoscale Supramolecular Probes for the Naked-Eye Detection of Illicit Drugs

The identification of psychoactive substances, in particular of designer drugs, on the site of their discovery is crucial to contrast the diffusion of drugs of abuse. We report here the first example of a nanoscale colorimetric probe, based on the nanoconfinement of a tricyclic dye and the target an...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inACS applied nano materials Vol. 3; no. 10; pp. 9616 - 9621
Main Authors Rosa-Gastaldo, Daniele, Scopano, Angelo, Zaramella, Marco, Mancin, Fabrizio
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published American Chemical Society 23.10.2020
Subjects
nanoscale probes
indicator displacement assay
designer drugs
paper test
nanoconfinement
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:The identification of psychoactive substances, in particular of designer drugs, on the site of their discovery is crucial to contrast the diffusion of drugs of abuse. We report here the first example of a nanoscale colorimetric probe, based on the nanoconfinement of a tricyclic dye and the target analytes in the cavity of cucurbit[8]­uril. The probe selectively responds to N-(2-methoxybenzyl)­phenethylamines, with a limit of detection of 3 μM. The sensing system can be deposited on paper, thus obtaining a colorimetric strip test capable of discriminating illegal drugs from other substances of common use.
ISSN:2574-0970
2574-0970
DOI:10.1021/acsanm.0c02370