Colorimetric Visualization of Chirality: From Molecular Sensors to Hierarchical Extension

The optical sensing of chirality is widely used in many fields, such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, food, and environmental materials. In this context, the color-based cascade amplification of chirality, coupled with chiral recognition for analytes, provides a low-cost and straightforward detectio...

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Main Author: Yuji Kubo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Molecules
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/8/1748
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author Yuji Kubo
author_facet Yuji Kubo
author_sort Yuji Kubo
collection DOAJ
description The optical sensing of chirality is widely used in many fields, such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, food, and environmental materials. In this context, the color-based cascade amplification of chirality, coupled with chiral recognition for analytes, provides a low-cost and straightforward detection method that avoids the use of expensive and sophisticated instrumentation. However, the realization of chiral detection using this approach is still challenging because the construction of a three-dimensional optical recognition site is required to easily discern differences in chirality. Therefore, considerable efforts have been dedicated to developing a hierarchical approach based on molecular organization to provide colorimetric sensors for chirality detection. This review covers function-integrated molecular sensors with colorimetric responsive sites based on absorption, fluorescence, and aggregation-induced emission enabled by molecular organization. In line with the hierarchical approach, data-driven chemometrics is a useful method for quantitative and accurate chiral pattern recognition. Finally, colorimetric nanomaterials are discussed, focusing on sensing platforms using noble-metal nanoparticles, carbon dots, and photonic crystal gels.
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spelling doaj-art-2844dd01f90f4a6c8a516b77ae2253ef2025-08-20T03:13:48ZengMDPI AGMolecules1420-30492025-04-01308174810.3390/molecules30081748Colorimetric Visualization of Chirality: From Molecular Sensors to Hierarchical ExtensionYuji Kubo0Department of Applied Chemistry, Graduate School of Urban Environmental Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 1-1 Minami-Osawa, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0397, JapanThe optical sensing of chirality is widely used in many fields, such as pharmaceuticals, agriculture, food, and environmental materials. In this context, the color-based cascade amplification of chirality, coupled with chiral recognition for analytes, provides a low-cost and straightforward detection method that avoids the use of expensive and sophisticated instrumentation. However, the realization of chiral detection using this approach is still challenging because the construction of a three-dimensional optical recognition site is required to easily discern differences in chirality. Therefore, considerable efforts have been dedicated to developing a hierarchical approach based on molecular organization to provide colorimetric sensors for chirality detection. This review covers function-integrated molecular sensors with colorimetric responsive sites based on absorption, fluorescence, and aggregation-induced emission enabled by molecular organization. In line with the hierarchical approach, data-driven chemometrics is a useful method for quantitative and accurate chiral pattern recognition. Finally, colorimetric nanomaterials are discussed, focusing on sensing platforms using noble-metal nanoparticles, carbon dots, and photonic crystal gels.https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/8/1748colorimetric chiral sensingmolecular organizationchemometricshelical polymernanoprobe
spellingShingle Yuji Kubo
Colorimetric Visualization of Chirality: From Molecular Sensors to Hierarchical Extension
Molecules
colorimetric chiral sensing
molecular organization
chemometrics
helical polymer
nanoprobe
title Colorimetric Visualization of Chirality: From Molecular Sensors to Hierarchical Extension
title_full Colorimetric Visualization of Chirality: From Molecular Sensors to Hierarchical Extension
title_fullStr Colorimetric Visualization of Chirality: From Molecular Sensors to Hierarchical Extension
title_full_unstemmed Colorimetric Visualization of Chirality: From Molecular Sensors to Hierarchical Extension
title_short Colorimetric Visualization of Chirality: From Molecular Sensors to Hierarchical Extension
title_sort colorimetric visualization of chirality from molecular sensors to hierarchical extension
topic colorimetric chiral sensing
molecular organization
chemometrics
helical polymer
nanoprobe
url https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/30/8/1748
work_keys_str_mv AT yujikubo colorimetricvisualizationofchiralityfrommolecularsensorstohierarchicalextension