Carboranes are molecules composed of carbon, boron and hydrogen atoms that are proving to have applications of great interest in chemistry, materials science and biomedicine. They are being used, for example, in the fight against cancer through boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), an experimental form of radiotherapy against malignant tumours that is highly selective at the cellular level. These compounds, which are highly stable at high temperatures and under radiation, possess unique electronic properties and can interact with various biochemical molecules. However, chemically modifying them to expand their potential properties and applications remains a challenge.
Now, teams from the University of Barcelona and the University of Girona, in collaboration with Nanjing University (China), have developed an innovative method for selectively modifying these boron-rich molecular clusters. The paper, published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition , opens up new opportunities for applications in cancer therapy, chemical sensors and advanced luminescent materials.
The study is led by experts Jordi Poater, an ICREA researcher at the Department of Inorganic and Organic Chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry and a member of the Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry (IQTCUB) at the UB, and Miquel Solà, from the Institute of Computational Chemistry and Catalysis at the University of Girona, together with Hong Yan, from Nanjing University, who carried out the synthesis.
