Development of an SBU-Based Mechanochemical Approach for Drug-Loaded MOFs

Jan Nawrocki , Daniel Prochowicz , A. Wiśniewski , Iwona Justyniak , Piotr Goś , Janusz Lewiński

Abstract

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted a great deal of attention in the areas of biomedicine due to their versatile porous structures and are potentially ideal vehicles for loading bioactive molecules and controlling the release of small molecules. Current approaches for encapsulation of drug molecules in MOFs are usually based on multistep wet processes. We report here a novel simple and rapid solid-state process that combines the mechanosynthesis of HKUST-1 and the encapsulation of ibuprofen (IBU-H), as a model drug molecule, in a one-pot reaction involving a pre-assembled [Cu₂(IBU)₄]·2DMF cluster. The ibuprofen-loaded MOF composite (with 58.5 wt.-% loading capacity) was also studied as a drug delivery carrier system in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution at 37 °C.