AUTHOR=Pramanik Apurba , Karmakar Joy , Grynszpan Flavio , Levine Mindy 

TITLE=Highly Sensitive Water Detection Through Reversible Fluorescence Changes in a syn-Bimane Based Boronic Acid Derivative

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2021.782481

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2021.782481

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=<p>Reported herein is a fluorometric and colorimetric sensor for the presence of trace amounts of water in organic solvents, using <italic>syn</italic>-bimane based boronate ester <bold>1</bold>. This sensor responds to the presence of water with a highly sensitive turn-off fluorescence response, with detection limits as low as 0.018% water (v/v). Moreover, analogously high performance was observed when compound <bold>1</bold> was adsorbed on filter paper, with the paper-based sensor responding both to the presence of liquid water and to humid atmospheres. Reusability of the paper-based sensor up to 11 cycles was demonstrated, albeit with progressive decreases in the performance, and <sup>1</sup>H NMR and mass spectrometry analyses were used to explain the observed, hydrolysis-based sensor response.</p>