Supramolecular Analytical Chemistry for Toxicant Detection in Aqueous Environments

Mindy Levine, University of Rhode Island, Island

A number of challenges in analytical sensor development still exist, including the ability to accomplish rapid detection of complex samples without a priori knowledge of the target analytes for detection. Because such knowledge may not be available or readily provided, new methods for toxicant detection in complex environments is needed. Reported herein are the results of efforts in our group to develop fundamentally new detection systems using cyclodextrin-promoted energy transfer and cyclodextrin-promoted fluorescence modulation. Practical applications of such systems in real-world contaminated environments will also be discussed.