RETRACTED ARTICLE: A Ketone Functionalized Gd(III)-MOF with Low Cytotoxicity for Anti-Cancer Drug Delivery and Inhibiting Human Liver Cancer Cells

In recent years, great attention has been paid to the construction of new porous metal–organic frameworks as effective drug carriers due to their high surface areas, considerable biocompatibility and controlled drug release performance. In this study, a new Gd(III) metal–organic framework with the chemical formula of [Gd(BCB)(DMF)](H 2 O) 2 has been successfully prepared using 4,4′,4″-benzenetricarbonyltribenzoic acid (H 3 BCB) as organic linkers and 1D Gd(III)-based secondary building unit chain as metal nodes. The title complex was characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and gas sorption measurements. Complex 1 shows 1D channel of 13.7 × 6.4 Å 2 along the c axis, which is large enough for accommodating anticancer drug 5-Fu (5-Fluorouracil) molecules. The drug loading and release experiments are carried out on the desolvated 1 ( 1a ), which reveals that 1a could uptake 36.4% weight of 5-Fu and release 5-Fu in a pH-dependent manner. Also, the prepare carrier is found to be bio-compatible with HCC cells (liver cancer cells) and oral epidermal cells (normal cells), when tested by MTT assay. In addition, the 5-Fu loaded carrier shows promising anticancer activity against the human liver cancer cells HCC.