This critical review is focused on examples reported from 1947 to 2010 related to the design of chromo-fluorogenic chemosensors and reagents for explosives (141 references).

A new selective chromo-fluorogenic probe for Fe³⁺, Cr³⁺ and Al³⁺ is reported. Detection limits are in the μM range and the fluorogenic sensing ability could be observed by the naked eye when illuminated with UV-light. No response is observed with divalent cations.

The synthesis of a substituted 2-pyridone ring is a topical area of continuing interest due to the number of biologically active molecules containing this moiety. Over the last decade, natural compounds with this structure have emerged as potent antitumor antiviral and attention, because those compounds may be studied as a simple model for investigating mechanisms of some enzymatic reactions or for discerning the behavior of nucleic acids bases in connection with mutation due to base mispairing or other mistaken helices. Recent studies have shown the usefulness of 2-pyridones as intermolecular connectors between building blocks in material science. Thus, despite the large number of methods known for their synthesis, new procedures are continuously being developed. Two main synthetic approaches can be found in the literature: from other heterocycles systems or condensation of acyclic systems. The latter can be further classified depending on the bond formed in the cyclization step: by C-C or C-N bond generation. The latter can be subclassified depending on the first condensation step. This is a review of new or improved methods for constructing 2-pyridone rings. This article will be restricted to ring formation, which can be included in the total synthesis of several compounds with specific biological or material properties. The pursuit of these properties requires efficient synthetic routes that allow rapid assembly and variation of multiple pendant substituents on the heteroaromatic case, which permits rapid analogsynthesis (RAS) [1].

The ease of production, the extreme toxicity of organophosphorus-containing nerve agents, and their facile use in terrorism attacks underscores the need to develop accurate systems to detect these chemicals. Among different technologies we review here recent advances in the design of chromo-fluorogenic methods for the specific detection of nerve agents. Optical sensing (especially colorimetric detection) requires usually low-cost and widely used instrumentation and offers the possibility of so-called “naked eye detection”. Recent reported examples suggest that the application of chromo-fluorogenic supramolecular concepts for the chromogenic or fluorogenic sensing of nerve agents might be an area of increasing interest that would allow developing systems able to overcome some of the limitations shown by classical analytical methods.

A new chromogenic protocol for the selective detection of nerve agent mimics is reported.