Monitoring a MOF Catalyzed Reaction Directly in Blood Plasma

Herein, we establish a method to quantitatively monitor a metal–organic framework (MOF)-catalyzed, biomedically relevant reaction directly in blood plasma, specifically, the generation of nitric oxide (NO) from the endogenous substrate S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) catalyzed by H3[(Cu4Cl)3–(BTTri)8] (CuBTTri). The reaction monitoring method uses UV–vis and 1H NMR spectroscopies along with a nitric oxide analyzer (NOA) to yield the reaction stoichiometry and catalytic rate for GSNO to NO conversion catalyzed by CuBTTri in blood plasma. The results show 100% loss of GSNO within 16 h and production of 1 equiv. of glutathione disulfide (GSSG) per 2 equiv. of GSNO. Only 78 ± 10% recovery of NO­(g) was observed, indicating that blood plasma can scavenge the generated NO before it can escape the reaction vessel. Significantly, to best apply and understand reaction systems with biomedical importance, such as NO release catalyzed by CuBTTri, methods to study the reaction directly in biological solvents must be developed.