Solid-state NMR spectroscopy as a powerful tool to investigate the location of fluorinated lipids in highly porous hybrid organic-inorganic nanoparticles.

Nanosized metal-organic frameworks (nanoMOFs) have emerged as a new class of biodegradable and nontoxic nanomaterials of high interest for biomedical applications thanks to the possibility to load large amounts of a wide variety of therapeutic molecules in their porous structure. The surface of the highly porous nanoMOFs is usually engineered to increase their colloidal stability, to tune their interactions with the biological environment, and to allow targeting specific cells or organs. However, the atomic-scale analysis of these complex core-shell materials is highly challenging. In this study, we report the investigation of aluminum-based nanoMOFs containing two fluorinated lipids by solid-state NMR spectroscopy, including Al, H and F MAS NMR. The ensemble of NMR data provides a better understanding of the localization and conformation of the fluorinated lipids inside the pores or on the nanoMOF surface.