Fig. 1: Preparation of MOF PAEs as building blocks for colloidal crystal engineering.
From: Colloidal crystal engineering with metal–organic framework nanoparticles and DNA
Metal ions and organic ligands were first combined to synthesize MOF NPs. The MOF NPs were surface passivated by a layer of azide-modified polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymers, followed by DNA functionalization via copper-free click chemistry, and subsequently programmed into superlattices via DNA hybridization. Inset: heterobifunctional ligands and DNA strands used to engineer MOF NP superlattices consist of: (i) a phosphate-PEG5k-azide ligand that strongly coordinates to the MOF surface SBU, (ii) a diarylcyclooctyne (DBCO) moiety with an 18 base recognition sequence that binds to a DNA linker, (iii) a linker hybridized with a complementary sequence of desired and programmable length to control interparticle distances, and (iv) a “sticky end” sequence that drives sequence-specific MOF PAE assembly.
