Metal-organic frameworks for the delivery of biocompatible molecules

害虫每年造成数百万英镑的损失，特别是在世界上的发展中地区。对付这些物种的方法往往是不加区别地使用杀虫剂，其中大部分是低效的，杀虫剂在使用前就被冲走了。这不仅是浪费，而且会导致污染和环境危害。更有效地针对农药的能力将减少其总体使用并提高其效率，这两者都将产生环境和经济效益。同样，延长驱虫剂寿命的潜力将提高其效率并有利于疾病控制。我们可以通过研究用于生物相容性分子递送的功能化多孔材料来解决这个问题。所讨论的多孔材料是金属有机框架。金属有机骨架材料是一类多孔材料，在气体储存、分离和催化等领域有着广泛的应用前景。MOFs是通过有机配体将金属聚集体连接成二维和三维的延伸结构而构建的，我们的研究重点是利用MOFs的特性来储存和控制释放生物重要分子。目标生物分子是昆虫引诱剂（和广义上的化学信息素），杀虫剂和驱虫剂。该项目有三个重点领域。首先通过实验获得目标生物分子的摄取和释放数据，包括材料的合成，新的性能更好的材料的开发。其次，基于实验获得的结果，用计算方法模拟多孔材料内生物分子的行为。最后，开发一种材料范围技术，以快速访问材料的性能，这是一个新的应用流动NMR。其总体目标是为害虫控制提供一种新的解决方案。

Pest insect species cause millions of pounds worth of damage every year, especially in developing parts of the world. These species are often tackled by indiscriminate use of pesticides, much of which is inefficient, with the pesticide washed away before it can be used. Not only is this wasteful, but it leads to pollution and environmental harm. The ability to target pesticides more efficiently would decrease their overall use and increase their efficiency, both of which would have environmental and economical benefits. Similarly, the potential of increasing the lifetime of insect repellents will increase their efficiency and benefit disease control.We can address this issue with a study of functionalised porous material for the delivery of biocompatible molecules. The porous material in questions are metal-organic frameworks. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of porous material, and they are currently attracting considerable attention for applications in gas storage, separations and catalysis. MOFs are constructed from the linking together of metal aggregates into two- and three-dimensional extended structures using bridging organic ligands.Our focus is to take advantage of the properties of MOFs to the storage and controlled release of biologically important molecules. The target biomolecules are insect attractants (and broadly speaking semiochemcials), pesticides and repellents. This project has three areas of focus. Firstly experimentally obtain data on uptake and release of target biomolecules, including synthesis of materials, development of new better performing materials. Secondly model the behaviour of the biomolecules within the porous materials with computational methods, based on experimentally obtained results. Finally, to develop a material scoping technique to quickly access a materials performance, this is a novel application of flow NMR. With the overall aim of providing a novel solution to pest control.