Water-soluble fullerenes for medical applications
Channel: bhadeshia123
Date: 2016-12-19

A lecture given by Ilija Rašovic of the University of Oxford, Department of Materials, for the 2016 Literature Review Prize of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (London). 

Research on fullerenes occupies a unique position in the scientific arena. Synthesis and characterisation of this nanomaterial blur the line between materials science and chemistry; careful tuning of the processing methods gives birth to a whole family of molecules and their functionalised derivatives, whose unusual properties at this nanoscopic scale can be exploited in cutting-edge technological applications. This review focuses on the functionalisation of fullerenes for use in medical applications. The first half gives an introduction to the fullerenes themselves and how their fundamental properties lead to a very rich chemistry, enabling both exohedral (external) and endohedral (internal) functionalisations of the cage. Emphasis is placed on the need for safe and reproducible synthesis routes if fullerenes are ever going to make it to the pharmaceutical market. In line with this, a selection of exohedral functionalisation protocols receives particular attention. Coverage of endohedral fullerene synthesis routes is limited to the endohedral metallofullerenes. In the second half, myriad applications of fullerenes in biomedical contexts are introduced and certain synthesis routes are critically evaluated. Discussion of the need to water solubilise the hydrophobic fullerene cages precedes an overview of fullerene-based diagnostic and therapeutic technologies. A final moment is spent on toxicity studies of fullerenes. The concluding remarks emphasise the positive effects of incorporating fullerenes into biomedical technologies, while looking at how these are perceived by the general public. A case is made for fullerenes being the optimal choice as standard bearers in the advance of nanomaterials into the medical field.

The Materials Literature Review Prize of IOM3 aims to encourage the preparation of definitive, critical reviews of the literature by students as an essential part of study for a higher degree in the materials field, and subsequently make the best of these available to a wider readership. The prize is administered by the Editorial Board of MST (the journal Materials Science and Technology).

Open to any postgraduate student studying in the UK or internationally, the prize carries a cash award, in line with other IOM3 prizes for papers. A winning entry and two runner-up prizes are awarded each year, and all entries are considered for publication in the journal subject to acceptance following peer-review. 

Congratulations to Ilija Rašovic from the University of Oxford, UK, who won the 2016 prize with his review Water-soluble fullerenes for medical applications. 

Ilija commented, ‘My research in materials science is a bit left-field… what I have tried to propose with my literature review is the multiple benefits that fullerenes have in medical applications. There are plenty that have been shown to be useful and better than what is currently available in clinic. They obviously won’t all come to fruition, but there are certain areas where they should, and where they will.’



http://www.iom3.org/news/2016/jul/05/materials-literature-review-prize-winner-announced