ROS-mediated carbon monoxide and drug release from drug-conjugated carboxyboranes

Abstract

Elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are associated with several detrimental diseases. Therefore, using this condition for selective treatments could be a great advantage in fighting these disorders. Here, we present amine carboxyboranes as a class of molecules for therapeutic CO gas generation and for delivering drug molecules in the presence of ROS. Our findings indicate amine carboxyboranes to be very slow CO releasers at physiological pH and temperature without any inducers but generate CO faster when reacted with a non-radical ROS (H₂O₂). Furthermore, a radical ROS (˙OH) dramatically expedites the production of CO from amine carboxyboranes. A decomposition profile shows the release of the amine group during the decarbonylation process from drug-conjugated carboxyboranes. This suggests that the carboxyborane moiety can be a useful tool for the delivery of amine-containing drugs to disease sites which display abundant ROS levels.