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Published on: October 15, 2019
Chaotropic Effect-Induced Self-Assembly of the Malachite Green and Boron Cluster for Toxicity Regulation and
Zi-Xin Wang1, Xiaofang Chen2, Xinyu Liu1
1Interdisciplinary Institute of NMR and Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion and New Carbon Materials of Hubei Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430081, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Malachite green (MG), a toxic antibacterial agent, is widely used in the farming industry. Effectively regulating the biotoxicity of this highly water-soluble cationic dye is challenging. Here, we present a novel strategy to reduce the biotoxicity of MG through the self-assembly of MG and the closo-dodecaborate cluster ([B12H12]2-) driven by the chaotropic effect. [B12H12]2- and MG in an aqueous solution can rapidly form an insoluble cubic-type supramolecular complex (B12-MG), and the original toxicity of MG is completely suppressed. Surprisingly, this supramolecular complex, B12-MG, has a strong UV-vis absorption peak at 600-800 nm and significant photothermal conversion efficiency under 660 nm laser irradiation. On this basis, B12-MG, the supramolecular complex, can be used as an efficient photothermal agent for antimicrobial photothermal therapy (PTT) both in vitro and in vivo. As a molecular chaperone of MG, [B12H12]2- not only can be applied as an antidote to regulate the biotoxicity of MG but also provides a novel method for the construction of photothermal agents for PTT based on the chaotropic effect.
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