(335i) Chromatic Covalent Organic Frameworks Enabling In Vivo Chemical Tomography

Covalent organic frameworks designed as chromatic sensors offer new opportunities to probe biological interfaces, particularly when combined with novel biocompatible matrices. Particularly compelling is the prospect of chemical tomography – or the 3D spatial mapping of chemical detail - within the complex environment of living systems. Herein, we demonstrate a chromic Covalent Organic Framework (cCOF) integrated within silk fibroin (SF) microneedles that probe plant vasculature, sense the alkalization of xylem fluid as a biomarker for drought stress, and provide a 3D in-vivo mapping of chemical gradients using smartphone technology. A series of novel Schiff base COFs with tunable pKa ranging from 5.6 to 7.6 enable conical, optically transparent SF microneedles of 120 to 950 nm in length to probe xylem fluid and the surrounding tissues of tobacco and tomato plants. The conical design allows for 3D mapping of the chemical environment at standoff distances from the plant, enabling in-vivo chemical tomography. Chromatic COF sensors of this type will enable multidimensional chemical mapping of previously inaccessible and complex environments.