Biomimetic mussel adhesive inspired clickable anchors applied to the functionalization of Fe3O4 nanoparticles

The functionalization of magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles with dopamine-derived clickable biomimetic anchors is reported. Herein, an alkyne-modified catechol-derivative is employed as the anchor, as i) the catechol-functional anchor groups possess irreversible covalent binding affinity to Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, and ii) the alkyne terminus enables further functionalization of the nanoparticles by the grafting-onto approach with various possibilities offered by 'click' chemistry. In the present work, azido-end group functionalized Rhodamine and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) are utilized to coat the iron oxide nanoparticles to make them fluorescent and water soluble.