Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 26, 2026

Microfluidic-based Synthesis of Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs): A Tool for Continuous Production of COF Fibers and Direct Printing on a Surface
Published on: July 10, 2017
From Morphology to Therapy: A Translation-Focused Review of Covalent Organic Frameworks for in Vivo Applications
Yu Duan1, Tianyi Wu1, Liangcheng Gu1
1National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Biomedical Functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China.
Abstract:
Since their pioneering synthesis in 2005, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have achieved rapid progress in synthetic methodologies and structural precision. These materials exhibit high specific surface areas and well-ordered porous architectures, endowing them with broad application prospects in areas such as gas adsorption, catalysis, energy storage, and biomedicine. Particularly in the biomedical field, since their proposal as drug carriers in 2015, COFs have attracted growing interest owing to their high drug-loading capacity and facile functionalization. Following the first reported in vivo study in 2018, COFs have been successfully utilized for encapsulating therapeutic agents. Through the incorporation of stimuli-responsive systems-such as pH sensitivity and hypoxia responsiveness-they have been engineered into targeted therapeutic platforms for diseases including cancer. Nonetheless, substantial challenges remain for their clinical translation. To this end, this review systematically summarizes the morphological classifications of COFs and representative in vivo studies, while addressing key obstacles including scalable synthesis, long-term toxicity evaluation, and AI-guided design. It aims to provide insightful perspectives and guidance for the development and clinical translation of next-generation COF-based biomaterials.
Related Concept Videos
Drug Discovery: Overview
Five-Membered Heterocyclic Aromatic Compounds: Overview
Organic Compounds
What is Organic Chemistry?
Overview of Advanced Functional Groups
Functional groups are groups of atoms with specific chemical properties that occur within organic molecules and are sometimes denoted as “R”. Functional groups can “functionalize” a compound by enabling it to adopt different physical and chemical properties.
Types of Advanced Functional Groups
The table below summarizes some of the major functional groups in organic chemistry.
Structures of Carboxylic Acid Derivatives
Carboxylic acid derivatives contain an acyl group attached to a heteroatom such as chlorine, oxygen, or nitrogen. The carbonyl carbon and oxygen are both sp2-hybridized with an unhybridized p orbital.
The three sp2 orbitals of the carbonyl carbon form three σ bonds, one each with the carbonyl oxygen, the α carbon, and the heteroatom, whereas the other two sp2 orbitals of the carbonyl oxygen are occupied by the lone pairs. Further, the unhybridized p...

