Mild and large-scale synthesis of nanoscale metal-organic framework used as a potential adenine-based drug nanocarrier

Nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been a steady growing interest worldwide in biomedical applications, especially in drug carriers. Adenosine, an unstable nucleoside composed of adenine and d -ribose, plays many important biological roles and recently used in many treatments. In this study, Zn-based MOF nanoparticles were successfully synthesized in large-scale by using polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a modulator for controlling the particle size, and characterized for efficient incorporation and protection of adenosine. Nano MOF displayed homogeneously polyhedral crystals with particle size smaller than 50 nm. According to X-ray diffraction, N 2 isotherm sorption, and thermogravimetric analysis characterizations, the nano material has high crystallinity, high porosity, and stable structure. Moreover, investigation of adenosine encapsulation onto nano MOF showed that the material was a high potential for nanocarrier with high loading capacity up to 833 mg g −1 . The kinetics and mechanism studies reveal the adenosine adsorption of MOF fit well with the pseudo‐second‐order model and Langmuir model. The in vitro release profile of the adenosine/nano MOF sample shows the presence of adenosine in phosphate-buffered saline solution, exhibiting the adenosine protection role of the nanocarrier.