Table 1.
Summary of carbohydrate-derived CDs synthetic protocols and properties.
| Carbohydrate | Heteroatom dopant/SPAa | Synthetic conditions |
Fluorescence profileb | Size [nm] | Crystallinity | Principle functionality | Ref. |
| glucose | PEG-200 | microwave | blue to green (Dep) | 2–4 | amorphous | C=C, C=O (acid), OH, C-O | [18] |
| glucosamine HCl | Na4P2O7 | Teflon-autoclave, reflux | green (Ind) | 4 | – | C=C, C=O, C-O, C-N, -OH, -NH2 | [19] |
| not specified | various | hydrothermal | blue to Red | various | various | various | [20] |
| glucose | TTDDA | H2SO4, HNO3 reflux | blue (Dep) | 5 | graphitic | C=C, C=O (acid/amide), OH, C-O | [23] |
| glucose | KH2PO4 | Teflon-autoclave, reflux | blue or green (Dep) | 2–5 | graphitic | C=C, C=O (acid), OH, C-O | [29] |
| glucose | phosphate | microwave | blue to green (Dep) | 2 | – | C=C, C=O (acid), OH, C-O | [31] |
| glucose | NH3 | ultrasonic | blue (Dep) | 10 | graphitic | C=C, C=O (acid), OH, N-aromatics, C-O | [32] |
| glucose | tryptophan | microwave | blue (Ind) | 20 | – | C=C, C=O (acid), OH, N-aromatics, C-O | [33] |
| glucosamine HCl | – | Teflon-autoclave, reflux | green (Ind) | 30 | crystalline | C=C, C=O, C-N, C-O, O-H | [34] |
| glucose | PEG-diamine | H+/ultrasonic | blue (-) | 10 | – | C=C, C=O (acid/amide), OH, C-O, N-H | [36] |
| glucose | boric acid | Teflon-autoclave, reflux | blue (Dep) | 3–5 | – | C=C, C=O (acid), -OH, B-OH | [38] |
| glucose | glutathione | hydrothermal | blue to green (Dep) | 2.5 | amorphous | C=C, C=O, C-O, N-H, Oxidised S | [39] |
| glucose | EDA, conc. H3PO4 | hydrothermal | blue to green (Dep) | 10 | hollow | C=C, C=O, C=N, -OH, P=O, P-C | [40] |
| glucose | NH3, H3PO4 | Teflon-autoclave, reflux | blue (Dep) | 3 | graphitic | C=C, C=O, P-C, P-N, P-O | [41] |
| glucose | TTDDA or dopamine | hydrothermal | blue or green (Dep) | 2–7 | crystalline | C=C, C=O, -OH, -NH2 | [42] |
| glycerol | TTDDA | microwave | blue to green (Dep) | 3.5 | amorphous | C=C, C=O (amide), -OH, -NH2 | [43] |
| xylitol | EDA, HCl | microwave | blue (Dep) | 4–5 | graphitic | C=C, C=O (amide), -OH, C-N, -Cl | [44] |
| fructose/maltose | – | NaOH/NaHCO3, rt | green (Dep) | 3–5 | graphitic | C=C, C=O, C-O, -OH | [45] |
| glucosamine HCl | TTDDA | microwave | blue (Dep) | 2–5 | sp3 crystalline | C=C, C=O (amide), C-O, C-N, C-Cl | [46] |
| sucrose | – | H3PO4, hydrothermal | orange-red (Ind) associated to HMF dimer aggregation | 4 | graphitic (molecular crystallinity) | C=C, C=O (acid), C-O, -OH | [47] |
| several polysaccharides | PEG-200 | microwave | blue (Dep) | 1–10 (substrate dependent) | – | substrate dependent | [54] |
| chitosan | glycerol, AcOH hydrogel | microwave | UV to blue (Dep) | 1–8 | – | C=C, -NH2, C-O, -OH | [55–56] |
| chitin | – | HNO3, Teflon-autoclave, reflux | blue (Dep) | 4-8 | graphitic | C=C, C=O (amide), -NH2, -OH | [58] |
| hyaluronic acid | glycine | Teflon-autoclave, reflux | blue (Dep) | 2–4 | graphitic | C=C, C=O (amide), -NH2, C-O | [59] |
| cyclodextrin | – | HCl, hydrothermal | green (Ind) | 2.5 | amorphous | C=C, C=O (acid), C-O, -OH | [60] |
| cyclodextrin | OEI | hydrothermal | green (Ind) | 2–4 | – | C=C, C=O (anhydride, amide), C-O, -OH, -NH2 | [61] |
| cellulose | urea | hydrothermal | blue (Dep) | 4 | graphitic | C=C, C=O (amide), C-N, C-O, -NH2, -OH | [62] |
aSurface passivating agent, bmajor fluorescence emission range highlighted; Ind = excitation-independent emission, Dep = excitation-dependent emission.