In recent years, the field of metal-organic frameworks has seen dramatic increases in exploration. Metal-organic frameworks, commonly referred to as MOFs, have proven to be excellent candidates for the storage of fuels (e.g., methane and acetylene), capture of gasses (e.g., hydrogen or carbon dioxide), and catalyzing reactions. One area that has burgeoned more recently is the utilization of these frameworks in biomedical applications, and a particularly interesting area is their use as potential antimicrobial agents. The purpose of this particular project was to study a series of potentially bioactive metal-organic structures and evaluate their use for biomedical applications. Specifically, this project was exploring the antimicrobial effectiveness of two distinct, but similar, frameworks, [Cu(C5H5N)2(C7H2O6)(H2O)]n and the newly synthesized [Cu2(C5H5N)5(C7H2O6)2(C3H7NO)]n . Preliminary studies were conducted on the antimicrobial effectiveness of these frameworks, against a series of bacteria, and resulted in promising data. This project sought to identify whether or not these frameworks are significantly antimicrobial against S. mutans, a common oral bacteria. Further investigation focused on the potential of coating these frameworks on different surface materials, e.g., to test their compatibility on titanium. Future work will focus on altering the frameworks to increase the antimicrobial properties (e.g., metal/ligand substitution, functionalization, coordination/encapsulation of drug molecules).

Investigation in to the fundamentals of metal-organic frameworks and their potential biomedical applications

2019 Spring National Meeting

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