Materials 2014, 7, 1201-1220; doi:10.3390/ma7021201 OPEN ACCESS materials ISSN 1996-1944 www.mdpi.com/journal/materials Review Colorimetric Sugar Sensing Using Boronic Acid-Substituted Azobenzenes Yuya Egawa *, Ryotaro Miki and Toshinobu Seki Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Josai University, Keyakidai, Sakado, Saitama 350-0295, Japan; E-Mails:
[email protected] (R.M.);
[email protected] (T.S.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +81-49-271-7686; Fax: +81-49-271-7714. Received: 30 November 2013; in revised form: 13 January 2014 / Accepted: 28 January 2014 / Published: 14 February 2014 Abstract: In association with increasing diabetes prevalence, it is desirable to develop new glucose sensing systems with low cost, ease of use, high stability and good portability. Boronic acid is one of the potential candidates for a future alternative to enzyme-based glucose sensors. Boronic acid derivatives have been widely used for the sugar recognition motif, because boronic acids bind adjacent diols to form cyclic boronate esters. In order to develop colorimetric sugar sensors, boronic acid-conjugated azobenzenes have been synthesized. There are several types of boronic acid azobenzenes, and their characteristics tend to rely on the substitute position of the boronic acid moiety. For example, o-substitution of boronic acid to the azo group gives the advantage of a significant color change upon sugar addition. Nitrogen-15 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) studies clearly show a signaling mechanism based on the formation and cleavage of the B–N dative bond between boronic acid and azo moieties in the dye.