Metal-organic assemblies for the detoxification of highly harmful molecules
Jorge Navarro a
a Universidad de Granada, Avenida de Fuente Nueva, s/n, Granada, Spain
Materials for Sustainable Development Conference (MATSUS)
Proceedings of MATSUS Spring 2025 Conference (MATSUSSpring25)
Multifunctional microporous materials for advanced applications in materials science - #FunPorMat
Sevilla, Spain, 2025 March 3rd - 7th
Organizers: Pablo del Pino and Beatriz Pelaz
Invited Speaker, Jorge Navarro, presentation 054
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.matsusspring.2025.054
Publication date: 16th December 2024

The high demand of food of the ever increasing global population involves the extensive use of agrochemicals to increase crop production. However, this goal also poses real threats to human health (110,000 deaths/year and 5 million pesticide related illnesses), aquatic ecosystems, and the environment at large. One of the most common classes of pesticides, organophosphates (OPs), are highly toxic to humans and ecosystems as a consequence of their acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity. In this communication, I report the ability of different zinc zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) to behave as potential antidotes against OP poisoning. The Zn–L coordination bond (L = purine, benzimidazole, imidazole, or 2-methylimidazole) is sensitive to the G-type nerve agent model compounds diisopropylfluorophosphate (DIFP) and diisopropylchlorophosphate, leading to P–X (X = F or Cl) bond breakdown into nontoxic diisopropylphosphate. P–X hydrolysis is accompanied by ZIF structural degradation (Zn–imidazolate bond hydrolysis), with the concomitant release of the imidazolate linkers and zinc ions representing up to 95% of ZIF particle dissolution. The delivered imidazolate nucleophilic attack on the OP@AChE adduct gives rise to the recovery of AChE enzymatic activity, thereby reversing organophosphate poisoning[1,2]. 

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