Rational synthesis of pH-responsive mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles functionalized with 2-aminothiophenol for controlled release of curcumin.

In order to get more effective results from natural and synthetic drugs used in cancer treatment, studies on solutions that will increase the bioavailability of these drugs in the cancerous region are very important. Mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles are one of the prominent among these solutions. Especially if mesoporous organosilica structures are designed in accordance with the drug to be transported, they can provide very important advantages. In this study, the synthesis and characterization of pH-responsive mesoporous organosilica nanocarrier functionalized with 2-aminothiophenol (MON-B) was carried out for more efficient transport and controlled release of natural hydrophobic curcumin. Characterization of monosilyl organic compound 1 was performed ¹H and ¹³C NMR, FT-IR and MS while TGA, BET, XRD, FT-IR and SEM–EDS analyses were used to characterize mesoporous organosilica nanocarrier MON-B. The amount of curcumin loaded into the nanocarrier MON-B was calculated as 22% (EE) according to the measurements in UV–Vis spectrophotometer. In vitro drug release studies of curcumin-loaded MON-B at pH 7.4 resulted in 1% curcumin release after 368 h while the release of curcumin was recorded as 33% at pH 4.5 in the same period. These results show that MON-B can transport hydrophobic curcumin at physiological pH without leakage and provide pH-controlled and prolonged release of curcumin through its acid-labile C=N bond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]