UC Santa Barbara

Carbon monoxide (CO), as a small, signaling molecule in mammals, has shown healing effects when applied externally. Targeted internal delivery of CO through a variety of methods is of interest; in this work, we seek to develop many strategies for internal CO release from inorganic platforms. We touch on a family of heterobimetallic group 7 complexes for potential long-wavelength photorelease of CO. We also report synthesis and characterization of a manganese complex whose reaction with H2O2 would further previous mechanistic studies of CO release in disease states that express reactive oxygen species (ROS). Future work will focus on kinetics studies to refine the mechanism of H2O2 triggered CO release from the CORM Mn(CO)3(4,4’-(COOH)2-bpy)Br. By focusing on diverse methods of delivering CO internally, we expand on burgeoning research to use small molecule bioregulators (SMBs) as specialized medicinal agents.