Description du projet
Un nouveau capteur chimique détecte les composés chiraux en temps réel
Les produits chimiques chiraux — des composés de molécules qui ne peuvent être superposées à leur image symétrique — sont de plus en plus utilisés pour la fabrication de produits pharmaceutiques, agrochimiques, d’ingrédients alimentaires et de parfums. L’élimination des composés chiraux peut constituer une menace pour l’environnement en raison de leur forte activité biologique. Le projet INITIO, financé par l’UE, prévoit de développer un capteur chimique portable capable d’analyser et de distinguer les molécules chirales sur place et en temps réel. Contrairement aux capteurs chimiques actuels, la technologie proposée comporte des récepteurs à l’état solide appropriés (basés sur des dérivés de la porphyrine) qui peuvent analyser de manière fiable le contenu des déchets chiraux.
Objectif
Chiral pollution is an environmental topic of crucial importance, considering that a large number of chemicals spreading into the environment, for example pesticides, are chiral substances. However, usually the stereoisomerism of contaminants is not considered, although the biological activity of enantiomers is significantly different, making their recognition critical for environmental control. Enantiomeric excess is currently determined by off-site analysis, requiring collection, transportation, eventual pre-treating of the sample, and expensive instrumentations and specifically trained staff. Thus, providing devices able to allow for rapid on site detection and chiral discrimination of target analytes would have a dramatic impact in all the fields of environmental control with significant economic benefits. The development of chemical sensors has been conceived to bypass restrictions related to classical analytical protocols and supports the use of conventional laboratory techniques for environmental control. While the technological foundation for chemical sensors already exists, it has been difficult to apply them to chiral discrimination and analysis, due to the lack of suitable solid state receptors. The main aims of the project are: a) the development of novel molecular receptors, mainly based on porphyrin derivatives, b) integration of the receptors with different nanostructures and characterization of their solid state organization, c) deposition of the structures onto transducer surfaces, d) testing and validation of the new chemical sensor devices with enantiomeric pairs of model analytes. The synergistic complementary know-how of six academic units and two private companies will allow a breakthrough development through delivery of sensing probes ranging from the synthesis of macrocyclic molecular receptors to the building and testing of analytical and electronic parts for final, field-capable devices.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinateur
00133 Roma
Italie