A colorimetric supramolecular sensor array for anaesthetic drugs detection and classification

The global pharmaceutical industry has experienced significant growth, accompanied by a worrying increase in counterfeit medicines. Substandard medicines pose serious health risks, including poisoning, exacerbation of untreated conditions and mortality, particularly in regions with weak regulatory systems. Anaesthetics, essential to medical care, are particularly vulnerable to supply chain shortages and counterfeiting, highlighting the need for effective authentication strategies. Herein, we propose a colorimetric sensor-array based on a competitive displacement mechanism exploiting the supramolecular host-guest interactions between cucurbit[n]uril macrocycles and cationic multibranched chromogenic dyes. This approach exploits the competition between anaesthetic molecules and host-dye complexes to induce analyte-specific dye colorimetric changes. The resulting optical fingerprints, being a combination of all the signals of the host/dye complexes, processed by machine learning algorithms, allows for the detection, discrimination, and quantification of six anaesthetic molecules. This newly developed array thereby provides a potential tool for addressing issues related to drug counterfeiting and enhancing the reliability of pharmaceutical quality control. • Counterfeiting medicines pose serious health risks in regions with weak regulatory systems • High-throughput and ready-to-use sensor should be developed to detect easily counterfeit medicines • Colorimetric sensor array are versatile tools to address this issue • Supramolecular host-guest-based sensor array are particularly well suited for drugs classification