The detection of anionic species with molecular sensors is valuable for many important applications, such as determining the toxicity of drinking water (fluoride and explosives contamination), food and drinks (amines), and more. The development of low-cost, in-situ, and selective sensors for specific anionic species that forgo the need for expensive and bulky spectrometers can aid with quickly and intuitively giving a visible indicator on vital metrics. This project aims to explore the ability of novel conjugated cyclic boron compounds (1,3,4,2-dioxazaboroles) to produce a detectable change in electronic transition by naked-eye, fluorescence, or UV-vis spectrophotometry upon coordination with amines (DMAP) or fluoride ions. It also aims to determine the effect of varying the para-substituted groups across a conjugated 1,3,4,2-dioxazaborole ring concerning electronic transition and absorption in the UV-vis range. It has been shown that the studied novel compounds can achieve qualitative fluorescence-aided naked-eye detection of specific amines and UV-vis-aided detection of fluoride ions.
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