Light-triggered carbon monoxide delivery with Al-MCM-41-based nanoparticles bearing a designed manganese carbonyl complex.

A photoactive manganese carbonyl complex namely, fac-[Mn(pqa)(CO)]ClO (abbreviated as {Mn-CO}, pqa = (2-pyridylmethyl)(2-quinolylmethyl)amine) has been incorporated in the pores of 60 nm mesoporous Al-MCM-41 nanoparticles. Strong electrostatic interactions with the negatively charged walls of the aluminosilicate host entrap the cationic carbonyl complex in the resulting material {Mn-CO}@Al-MCM-41 which has been characterized by various physical techniques and chemical analysis. The sample morphology and microstructure of the material have been established by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).