Nanoscale Covalent Organic Frameworks with Donor-Acceptor Structure for Enhanced Photothermal Ablation of Tumors

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have shown great potential in catalysis and the biomedical fields, but monodisperse COFs with tunable sizes are hard to obtain. Herein, we successfully developed a series of COFs based on electron donor-acceptor strategy in mild conditions. The synthetic COFs exhibit excellent colloidal stability with uniform spherical morphology. The sizes can be flexibly adjusted by the amount of catalyst, and the absorption spectra also vary with the sizes. By changing the electron-donating ability of the monomers, the corresponding COFs possess a wide range of absorption spectra, which can be even extended to the second near-infrared biowindow. The obtained COFs possess potent photothermal activity under laser irradiation, and could inhibit the growth of tumors effectively. This work provides a strategy for the synthesis of monodisperse COFs with variable absorption for their potential applications.

Automated summary

This study successfully developed a series of COFs based on the electron donor-acceptor strategy with excellent colloidal stability and adjustable sizes, as well as varying absorption spectra. By altering the electron-donating ability of the monomers, these COFs exhibit a wide range of absorption spectra and potent photothermal activity, effectively inhibiting tumor growth.