Oral Presentation Royal Australian Chemical Institute National Congress 2026

Luminescent iridium(III)-boronic acid complexes for sensing carbohydrates (136916)

Peter J Barnard 1 , Rahad Rahman 2 , Nurul H Quazi 3 , Keith F White 1 , Marcel Maeder 2 , David JD Wilson 1
  1. La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
  3. Boron Molecular, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Carbohydrates are involved in a wide array of biological functions and metabolic processes. They vary in complexity, ranging from simple monosaccharides such as glucose, the most abundant sugar in the human body, to larger oligosaccharides such as glycans, which are crucial for cell adhesion and cellular signalling.1 Despite their vital role in sustaining life, imbalances in carbohydrates are linked to various adverse health conditions, including diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease,2 and autoimmune disorders.3 On this basis, there is an ongoing need for the accurate and selective detection and quantification of carbohydrates for monitoring disease and in other biological applications. Luminescent molecules functionalised with boronic acid groups have shown great potential for sensing and imaging carbohydrates.4 In this project, a series of photoluminescent iridium(III) complexes bearing boronic acid groups have been prepared and their capacity to sense sugars such as glucose and fructose evaluated using photoluminescence titration studies. These studies showed that the iridium(III) complexes form adducts with both glucose and fructose, with increased levels of boronic acid cyclic esters being formed with fructose at higher pH values.5

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