A poly(phenyleneethynylene) polymer bearing amino acid substituents as active layer in enantioselective solid-state sensors

A poly(phenyleneethynylene) polymer bearing amino acid pendant groups is used as enantioselective active layer in solid-state sensing devices. The chiral analyte in the present study is menthol in both the natural (-) and synthetic (+) enantiomers. The polymer bearing amino acid chiral sites is demonstrated to interact more favorably with the natural menthol than the synthetic one in a quartz crystal microbalance revealing system. Promising perspectives are seen for the use of such polymers in chiral discriminating, chemically sensitive resistors or even transistors.