Green synthesis and mechanism analysis of a new metal-organic framework constructed from Al (III) and 3,4-dihydroxycinnamic acid extracted from Satureja hortensis and its anticancerous activities

Abstract

In this study, aluminium nitrate and a carboxylate linker extracted from Satureja hortensis were used to develop a sustainable aluminium-based metal-organic framework (Al-MOF). Al-MOF has been extensively characterized using FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy, XRD, TEM, FE-SEM, TG-DTA, and Brunauer – Emmett – Teller (BET) techniques. The prepared samples, which included large hexagons and triangular channels, had a pore size of about 20 nm and a surface area of about 1245.2 m2/g, according to the results. The mechanism of the formation of Al-MOF has been proposed based on density functional theory with B3LYP and 6–31 G (d,p) as the basis set. The highest occupied molecular orbits (HOMO) to the lowest unusable molecular orbit (LUMO) are also used to discuss chemical reactivity patterns in molecules. Al-MOF has demonstrated anticancer activity against human breast cancer (MDA-MB-468) cell lines, suggesting that it could be a promising anticancer drug for clinical use.