title: Triptycene-Roofed Quinoxaline Cavitands for the Supramolecular Detection of BTEX in Air.
abstract: Two novel triptycene quinoxaline cavitands (DiTriptyQxCav and MonoTriptyQxCav) have been designed, synthesized, and applied in the supramolecular detection of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) in air. The complexation properties of the two cavitands towards aromatics in the solid state are strengthened by the presence of the triptycene moieties at the upper rim of the tetraquinoxaline walls, promoting the confinement of the aromatic hydrocarbons within the cavity. The two cavitands were used as fiber coatings for solid-phase microextraction (SPME) BTEX monitoring in air. The best performances in terms of enrichment factors, selectivity, and LOD (limit of detection) values were obtained by using the DiTriptyQxCav coating. The corresponding SPME fiber was successfully tested under real urban monitoring conditions, outperforming the commercial divinylbenzene-Carboxen-polydimethylsiloxane (DVB-CAR-PDMS) fiber in BTEX adsorption.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17A, Parma, 43124, Italy.|Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Mass Avenue, 02139, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bertani
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17A, Parma, 43124, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicolò
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Riboni
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17A, Parma, 43124, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, via L. Giorgeri 1, 34127, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brancatelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Mass Avenue, 02139, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Sterner
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17A, Parma, 43124, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pinalli
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Trieste, via L. Giorgeri 1, 34127, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Geremia
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Mass Avenue, 02139, Cambridge, MA, USA. tswager@mit.edu.
authors.forename: Timothy M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Swager
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17A, Parma, 43124, Italy. enrico.dalcanale@unipr.it.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dalcanale
keywords: cavitands; environmental monitoring; host-guest systems; solid-phase microextraction; volatile organic compounds