A framework for drug delivery

Materials Chemistry Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are attractive candidates for drug delivery if they can be formed from low-toxicity materials. Levine et al. noted that olsalazine, a low-toxicity anti-inflammatory drug used in treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, is tolerated in multigram doses and structurally related to the ligands used to create M-MOF-74. One-dimensional hexagonal pore structures with diameters of 2.7 nm were formed from olsalazine and dications such as Mg2+ or Fe2+. These materials not only displayed a high capacity for H2 adsorption, but they could also be loaded with model drugs such as phenethylamine. Pressed pellets of the Mg-based material released 50% of the olsalazine and 95% of the phenethylamine after 3 hours in phosphate-buffered saline, suggesting applications for multidrug delivery. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 10.1021/jacs.6b03523 (2016).