Boronic acid building blocks: tools for sensing and separation

In this feature article the use of boronic acids to monitor, identify and isolate analytes within physiological, environmental and industrial scenarios is discussed. Boronic acids recognise diol motifs through boronic ester formation and interact with anions generating boronates, as such they have been exploited in sensing and separation protocols for diol appended molecules such as saccharides and anions alike. Therefore robust molecular sensors with the capacity to detect chosen molecules selectively and signal their presence continues to attract substantial attention, and boronic acids have been exploited with some success to monitor the presence of various analytes. Reversible boronic acid-diol interactions have also been exploited in boron affinity chromatography realising new separation domains through the same binding events. Boronic acid diol and anion interactions pertaining to sensing and separation are surveyed.     

Boronic Acids as Bioorthogonal Probes for Site‐Selective Labeling of Proteins

Over the past two decades, bioorthogonal chemistry has become a preferred tool to achieve site‐selective modifications of proteins. However, there are only a handful of commonly applied bioorthogonal reactions and they display some limitations, such as slow rates, use of unstable or cytotoxic reagents, and side reactions. Hence, there is significant interest in expanding the bioorthogonal chemistry toolbox. In this regard, boronic acids have recently been introduced in bioorthogonal chemistry and are exploited in three different strategies: 1) boronic ester formation between a boronic acid and a 1,2‐cis diol; 2) iminoboronate formation between 2‐acetyl/formyl‐arylboronic acids and hydrazine/hydroxylamine/semicarbazide derivatives; 3) use of boronic acids as transient groups in a Suzuki–Miyaura cross‐coupling or other reactions that leave the boronyl group off the conjugation product. In this Review, we summarize progress made in the use of boronic acids in bioorthogonal chemistry to enable site‐selective labeling of proteins and compare these methods with the most commonly utilized bioorthogonal reactions.     

Which is reactive in alkaline solution, boronate ion or boronic acid? Kinetic evidence for reactive trigonal boronic acid in an alkaline solution

That boronic acid is a reactive species toward a diol moiety even in an alkaline solution and that the boronate ion is not very reactive were demonstrated by the estimated upper limit of the rate constants for the reactions of some boronic acids with 2,2'-biphenol and 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene in a neutral-alkaline solution, which will correct a common misunderstanding in boron chemistry and would renew the idea of effective boronic acid sensor design for carbohydrates.     

Preparative manipulation of gold nanoparticles by reversible binding to a polymeric solid support

A preparative scheme is presented for controlled modification of gold nanoparticles (NPs) by using reversible binding to a polymeric solid support through boronic acid chemistry. Octanethiol-capped Au NPs were bound to a boronic acid functionalized resin by custom-synthesized bifunctional linker molecules. The NPs were chemically released from the resin to the solution, with one (or a few) linker molecules embedded in their capping layer. This was confirmed by rebinding the linker-derivatized NPs to a boronic resin, exploiting the reversibility of the boronic acid/diol chemistry. The same scheme was employed to demonstrate a new method for affinity separation of NPs by means of a solid-phase reaction. The use of boronic acid provides versatility and chemical reversibility, while the polymeric solid support affords the separation and preparative aspects. The method presented here may be useful in various facets of NP handling, manipulation, and separation.     

Structure of 4-[4-(Dimethylamino)-Phenylazo] Benzeneboronic Acid and Its Cyclic Esters with D-Glucose: A Computational Study

We present results from a computational study of 4-[4-(dimethylamino)-phenylazo] benzene boronic acid (DABBA) (the 4'-boronic acid isomer of the aminoazobenzene dye N,N-dimethylaminoazobenzene) and its associated anion, as well as, several cyclic esters formed from these azoborates and various conformers of D-glucose. Azo dyes that also contain one or more boronic acid functional groups are of practical importance in the development of chemical sensors for saccharide recognition because of their ability to induce a visible color change upon binding. The lowest-energy DABBA:D-glucose esters found in this investigation consistently involved at least one of the exocyclic hydroxymethyl groups on the D-glucose moiety rather than vicinal cis or trans diol arrangements of hydroxyl groups on the ring.     

Saccharide Sensing Based on Saccharide‐Induced Conformational Changes in Fluorescent Boronic Acid Polymers

Summary: A novel fluorometric saccharide detection strategy has been established by utilizing saccharide‐induced conformational changes in copolymers containing boronic acid and fluorescent units. The polymer chain changes its conformation due to an alteration of the charge state induced by binding with saccharides. The conformational changes are conveniently detected by monitoring excimer to monomer intensity ratio in the fluorescence spectra. Thus, the present strategy would be a promising way for the creation of highly selective and sensitive saccharide‐sensing systems.

Saccharide‐induced conformational change in copolymers containing boronic acid units.     

基于有机硼酸的糖传感器研究进展

有机硼酸能与二羟基化合物高亲和性地可逆结合,是一类新型的糖传感器材料.根据检测手段的不同可将基于有机硼酸的糖传感器分为光谱传感器、pH指示型传感器、电化学传感器等几类.本文详细评述了各种传感器的检测原理、制备方法和应用,并系统总结了最新研究进展,展望了今后的研究方向.     

The Development of Boronic Acids as Sensors and Separation Tools

Synthetic receptors for diols that incorporate boronic acid motifs have been developed as new sensors and separation tools. Utilizing the reversible interactions of diols with boronic acids to form boronic esters under new binding regimes has provided new hydrogel constructs that have found use as dye‐displacement sensors and electrophoretic separation tools; similarly, molecular boronic‐acid‐containing chemosensors were constructed that offer applications in the sensing of diols. This review provides a somewhat‐personal perspective of developments in boronic‐acid‐mediated sensing and separation, placed in the context of the seminal works of others in the area, as well as offering a concise summary of the contributions of the co‐authors in the area. DOI 10.1002/tcr.201200006     

新型含苯硼酸和喹啉的囊泡荧光多糖传感器的制备

利用合成的含有识别基团苯硼酸和荧光读出基团喹啉的新型双亲化合物对硼酸苯甲基-8-十六烷氧基溴化喹啉(BHQB)在水中自组织成囊泡,囊泡的相变温度为52.4℃;当向囊泡体系加糖时,BHQB囊泡中的喹啉生色基在508nm的荧光峰强度急剧减弱,425nm处荧光逐渐增强.荧光强度变化可能归于所形成的硼酸酯改变了双亲化合物中硼原子的杂化轨道形式,进一步引起了整个分子内部的电子云排布所致.BHQB囊泡与糖的相互作用而导致体系荧光强度变化,并且这种变化的幅度与加入糖的种类和量均有关.因此体系有可能应用于检测生物物质如糖的化学传感器.     

The effect of boronic acid acidity on performance of viologen-based boronic acids in a two-component optical glucose-sensing system

A two-component saccharide sensing system using the fluorescent dye, hydroxypyrene trisulfonic acid, combined with a boronic acid functional viologen as a receptor/quencher in pH 7.4 buffer solution has been further investigated. The effect of substituents on the acidity of the boronic acid was measured. The boronic acid pK_a changed in the expected manner when electron donating or withdrawing groups were present. The glucose binding constants were dependent on pK_a, but no simple correlation was observed for the Stern-Volmer quenching constants and the fluorescence signal modulation.     

基于有机硼酸的共价键有机框架研究进展

共价键有机框架(Covalent Organic Frameworks,COFs)是具有明确孔径分布的多孔晶体材料,在气体贮藏、催化、分离、光学器件和化学传感等方面均有应用前景。有机硼酸中硼原子最外层空的p轨道能与π键产生特殊的轨道作用,也可与路易斯碱发生配位作用。上述特点使其能够作为结构和功能导向的基元而用于构筑共价键有机框架。本文从合成、结构以及性质等方面对有机硼酸构筑的共价键有机框架进行了介绍。     

The design of boronic acid spectroscopic reporter compounds by taking advantage of the pK(a)-lowering effect of diol binding: nitrophenol-based color reporters for diols

The complex that forms between a boronic acid and a diol is often much more acidic than the starting boronic acid. In conditions where the solution pH is between the two pK(a) values, the boron atom will convert from a neutral trigonal form to an anionic tetrahedral form upon complexation. Such a change is likely to dramatically alter the electron density of neighboring groups. Utilizing this effect, we have designed and synthesized two nitrophenol-based boronic acid reporter compounds that change ionization states and therefore spectroscopic properties upon diol binding. Both compounds show significant UV changes upon addition of saccharides. For example, a blue shift of the absorption max from 373 to 332 nm was observed with the addition of D-fructose to 2-hydroxy-5-nitrophenylboronic acid at neutral pH. Such a reporter compound can be used as a recognition and signaling unit for the construction of polyboronic acid sensors for the selective and specific recognitions of saccharides of biological significance.     

硼酸类荧光受体识别单糖*

糖广泛存在于自然界中,与蛋白质和核酸一起并列构成生命体的三大物质单元。由于糖含有多个羟基,含硼酸基的有机物与二醇间有强烈结合作用,故硼酸基团常用于糖类识别和细胞标记。当荧光体与硼酸基团相连接时即可构建识别糖的荧光传感器。本文按发光团结构进行分类,分为：萘基硼酸类受体（包括对二甲氨基萘硼酸衍生物,N-取代的氨基萘硼酸衍生物,1,8-萘二甲酰亚胺为母体的单硼酸衍生物）、杂环硼酸类受体（包括含氮杂环硼酸衍生物、含硫杂环硼酸衍生物以及含氧杂环硼酸衍生物）、蒽环硼酸类受体、芘环硼酸类受体、紫精硼酸类受体及其它类型的硼酸类受体等,详细评述了自2002年以来含硼酸基团的新型荧光受体在单糖识别研究中的最新进展。     

The relationship among pKa, pH, and binding constants in the interactions between boronic acids and diols—it is not as simple as it appears

In our continuing efforts into designing boronic acid-based sensors that recognize cell-surface carbohydrates, it has been necessary to examine various factors that affect the binding affinity between a boronic acid moiety and a diol. The current prevailing view is that the strongest boronic acid/diol complexes are generated by a combination of high solution pH and a low boronic acid pK_a. However, there has never been a systematic examination of the relationship among the binding constants, boronic acid pK_a, and the pH of the solution. Herein we report our findings with a series of 25 arylboronic acids with various substituents and their binding affinities with diols. We have found that (1) the relationship between the pK_a of monosubstituted phenylboronic acid and its substituents can be described using a Hammet plot; (2) the optimal pH for binding is not always above the pK_a of the boronic acid, and is affected by the pK_a values of the boronic acid and the diol, and other unknown factors; and (3) the general belief that boronic acids with lower pK_a values show greater binding affinities for diols is not always true.     

Brønsted Acid and H-Bond Activation in Boronic Acid Catalysis

Boronic acid catalysis has emerged as a mild method for promoting a wide variety of reactions. It has been proposed that the mode of catalysis involves Lewis acid or covalent activation of hydroxyl groups by boron, but limited mechanistic evidence exists. In this work, representative boronic acid catalyzed reactions of alcohols and oximes have been reinvestigated. A series of control experiments with boronic and Brønsted acids were interpreted along with correlations between their reactivity and their acidity measured by the Gutmann–Beckett method. Overall, it was concluded that the major modes of catalysis involve either dual H-bond catalysis or Brønsted acid catalysis. Strong Brønsted acids were shown to be generated in situ from covalent assembly of the boronic acids with hexafluoroisopropanol, explaining why the solvent had such a major impact on the reactivity. This new insight should guide the future development of boronic acid catalysis, where the diverse and solvent-specific nature of catalytic modes has been overlooked.     

A comparison of the structure and bonding in the aliphatic boronic R–B(OH)<Subscript>2</Subscript> and borinic R–BH(OH) acids (R=H; NH<Subscript>2</Subscript>, OH,and F): a computational investigation

Boronic acids, R–B(OH)₂, play an important role in synthetic, biological, medicinal, and materials chemistry. This investigation compares the structure and bonding surrounding the boron atoms in the simple aliphatic boronic acids, R–B(OH)₂ (R=H; NH₂, OH, and F), and the analogous borinic acids, R–BH(OH). Geometry optimizations were performed using second-order Møller–Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) with the Dunning–Woon aug-cc-pVTZ, aug-cc-pVQZ, and aug-cc-pV5Z basis sets; single-point CCSD(FC)/aug-cc-pVTZ//MP2(FC)/aug-cc-pVTZ level calculations were used to generate a QCI density for natural bond orbital analyses of the bonding. The optimized boron–oxygen bond lengths for the X–B–O_t–H trans-branch of the endo-exo form of the boronic acids and for the X–B–O–H cis-branch of the boronic and borinic acids (X=N, O, and F, respectively) decrease as the electronegativity of X increases. The boron–oxygen bond lengths are generally longer in the endo-exo or anti forms of the boronic acids than in the corresponding borinic acids. NBO analyses suggest the boron–oxygen bond in H₂BOH is a double bond; the boron–oxygen bonding in the remaining boronic and borinic acids in this study has a significant contribution from dative pπ–pπ bonding. Values for Δ\({\text{H}}_{298}^{0}\) for the highly balanced reaction, R–B(OH)₂ + R–BH₂ → 2 R–BH(OH), suggest that the bonding surrounding the boron atom is stronger in the borinic acid than in the corresponding boronic acid.     

Poly(glyceryl glycerol): A multi‐functional hydrophilic polymer for labeling with boronic acids

The synthesis of poly(glyceryl glycerol) (PGG), a polymer featuring a polyethylene oxide backbone and 1,2‐diol groups in every repeating unit, is presented. PGG was prepared by monomer‐activated ring‐opening polymerization of (dl ?1,2‐isopropylidene glyceryl) glycidyl ether, introducing a functional azido‐ or bromo‐head group to each chain. The 1,2‐diol groups, which were released by acidic deprotection, readily reacted with boronic acid derivatives, enabling the attachment of functional moieties under mild aqueous conditions. PGG was conjugated to poly(l ‐lactide) (PLLA) via azide‐alkyne cycloaddition and the resulting copolymer assembled into nanoparticles of 70 nm diameter in aqueous solution. Labeling of the PGG–PLLA particles was achieved by simple mixing with a boronic acid‐functional fluorophore. The labeling efficiency was determined by fluorescence spectroscopy to be 85.5% for boronic acid‐functional rhodamine B compared with 0.2% for plain rhodamine B. The strong interaction of PGG with boronic acids is ascribed to its polyol structure. This study demonstrates the usefulness and versatility of PGG as a hydrophilic polymer for possible biomedical applications. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55 , 1822–1830     

pK(a) values and geometries of secondary and tertiary amines complexed to boronic acids-implications for sensor design

[structure in text] The pK(a) values and the geometries of secondary and tertiary amines adjacent to boronic acids were determined using potentiometric and (11)B NMR titrations. The studies showed that the secondary ammonium ion has a pK(a) similar to that of the tertiary ammonium species, which leads to the formation of tetrahedral boron centers at pH values above approximately 5.5. Therefore, secondary amines as well as tertiary amines, when placed proximal to boron centers, can be used to create tetrahedral boronic acids at neutral pH for diol complexation.     

The B-N bond controls the balance between locally excited (LE) and twisted internal charge transfer (TICT) states observed for aniline based fluorescent saccharide sensors

Three boronic acid based saccharide sensors with an aniline fluorophore have been prepared. One of the systems (1a) contains an intramolecular boron-nitrogen (B-N) bond and displays fluorescence due to both LE and TICT states. The other two systems (1b and c) have no B-N bond and only show fluorescence due to the LE state.     

A modular electrochemical sensor for saccharides

A modular electrochemical saccharide sensor using ferrocene has been prepared which contains two boronic acid receptor groups and hexamethylene linker.