Design of a Novel Photocleavable Metal-Organic Framework

Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) since their discovery have been used in a variety of applications, including, but not limited to gas adsorption and storage, food packaging, biofilms and drug delivery. This is attributed to the vast array of options for its component parts (the metal nodes and the organic linkers) and its high surface area and high porosity.

Recently, there has been a surge of MOFs in the drug delivery realm, especially in the active release of cargo from the MOF since it offers a better spatial and temporal control. Herein, we present a novel “door-opening” MOF to release the encapsulated cargo via irradiation.

This design will serve as a proof of concept in using a photolabile “gate” moiety that will encapsulate the test drug in the MOF till it is irradiated at 365 nm. The synthesis and characterization of the MOF will be discussed alongside the characterization mechanisms planned further into the project.

Selected References:

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2. Li,Y.; Yang, R.T. Gas Adsorption and Storage in Metal−Organic Framework MOF-177. Langmuir 2007, 23 ,12937.

3. Horcajada, P.; Serre, C.; Vallet-Regí, M.; Sebban, M.; Taulelle, F.; Férey, G. Metalorganic frameworks as efficient materials for drug delivery. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 2006, 45, 5974.