Synthesis and sensing properties of a new carbazole fluorosensor for detection of abacavir

An abacavir-targeted fluorosensor based on the carbazole moiety has been synthesised and characterised. Recognition of abacavir is by base pairing between a uracil moiety present in the fluorosensor and the guanine moiety of abacavir. The fluorosensor exhibits five-fold quenching in the presence of 50M abacavir. Its sensitivity to abacavir is superior to that of other reverse transcriptase inhibitors: zidovudine, lamivudine and didanosine. Due to its high sensitivity, this fluorosensor has the potential to be used in multi-analyte array-based detection platforms as well as in microfluidics systems. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.