Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Chart 2.9 Amphiphilic homopolymer containing an anthracene unit as a transducer.
metalloproteins. For this purpose, we adapted a new biomimetic strategy. Nature has
evolved a unique mechanism by which a series of less selective bindings result in a
pattern, which is then translated to sensing. Examples of such sensing elements in
Nature involve our ability to differentiate odor and taste. There have been a variety
of approaches in the literature, where multiple receptors that have different binding
affinities to a variety of analytes were designed and synthesized. Impressive recog-
nition efficiencies have been demonstrated using this strategy. However, if this strat-
egy were to be broadly applicable, the number of data points needed to attain a
reliable pattern for analytes is large. This translates into a significant synthetic enter-
prise to arrive at a variety of receptors. We conceived that if one develops an ortho-
gonal differential receptor approach, where a variety of data points could be generated
from a single receptor, then the synthetic requirements become small. Note that the
Figure 2.9 Interaction of polymeric micelles that contain anthracene units (a) with non-
metalloproteins and (b) with metalloproteins.
