The controlled release of fragrance molecules is of great interest in the development of fragranced products such as deodorants, as the volatility of the fragrance molecules can reduce the action of the product over time. In this HOT ChemComm article, Jing Li and her group at Rutgers University, New Jersey have joined forces with researchers from Colgate-Palmolive Company to investigate using metal organic frameworks (MOFs) to take up and release fragrances in response to external stimuli.
MOFs are a class of porous materials that are receiving a significant amount of research interest. In particular, their ability to take up and store small molecules makes them an exciting prospect for storing gases, such as hydrogen, for catalysis and for drug delivery.
In this study, researchers examined the ability of some zinc based MOFs containing hydrophobic channels to take up and release the fragrances ethyl butyrate and D-limonene. They found that the release of these fragrances could be triggered by moisture.
Importantly, both the hydrophilic ethyl butyrate and the hydrophobic D-limonene could be stored and released in this way, whereas leading encapsulation technologies based on modified starch are generally only useful for storing hydrophobic fragrances. MOFs could therefore well find commercial applications for storing a wide range of fragrances.
Read this ‘HOT’ ChemComm article today!
Encapsulated recyclable porous materials: an effective moisture-triggered fragrance release system
John Vaughn, Haohan Wu, Bisera Efremovska, David H. Olson, Jairajh Mattai, Claudio Oritz, Allen Puchalski, Jing Li and Long Pan
Chem. Commun., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC41236A
Cally Haynes is a guest web-writer for ChemComm. She is currently a post doctoral researcher at the University of Southampton, and her research interests include the supramolecular chemistry of anions. When not in the laboratory, she likes travelling and watching football.
