Recent Advances of Chemosensors for Nerve Agents

Nerve agents are a branch of organophosphorus (OP) compounds that chemically cause irreversible inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, thereby failing the hydrolysis of acetylcholine, resulting in severe neurological disease and death in organisms. Thus, the unreasonable use of such compounds threatens public and national security, so it is a high demand to establish portable, low-cost, sensitive, and highly selective methods for their precise detection. In this review, we introduced the recent development of spectroscopy-based optical chemosensors that aimed for the detection of nerve agents, focusing on the progress made in the molecular design, sensing principle and applications. We conclude this Review by highlighting the current challenges associated with the future development and outlook.