APPLIED CHEMISTRY

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements in CHEM 521 Readings in Chemistry

Submitted by: JOHN JILL T. VILLAMOR

NANOTECHNOLOGY Every year, the chemical industry produces millions of pounds such medically important substances such as Vitamin C, penicillin and aspirin. However, the synthesis of vitamins and medicines is far from the only role that chemistry plays in the health and biological sciences. No endeavor has benefited more from advances in chemistry than medicine and biotechnology (Wilbraham et al., 2003). Benefits, as stated by Wilbraham et al. (2003), derive from the ability of scientists to determine the spatial arrangement of atoms in complex biological molecules like proteins. Many medicines are effective because they interact in a very specific way with these molecules. Knowledge of the molecular structure of the target biological molecule greatly assists the design of safe and effective drug molecules. Medicines to reduce high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and some cancers have been developed in this way. Chemistry is also providing new materials for medicinal applications. Diseased or weakened arteries can be replaced surgically with tubes made of Dacron polymers. Hipbones are replaced by substitutes made of metal alloys, or mixtures of tungsten and cobalt. Much progress has been made in the development of synthetic blood and skin (Wilbraham et al., 2003). In an article appeared (dated June 27, 2011) in a Journal of American Chemical Society entitled Nanoparticles Working Together, advancement of new materials for a medicinal application was presented. As shown in the article, twocomponent nanosystem consisted of two types of Nanoparticles: polyethylene glycol-

coated nanorods and cancer-drug bearing liposomes tagged with a peptide that binds to an enzyme in the blood-clotting cascade. Although the experiments was only tried in mice, the nanoparticle-based system was found to efficiently pinpointed and delivered drugs to tumor cells in mice. Furthermore, the communicating particles are able to deliver to 40 times as high a dose of drug as one type of particle can deliver by itself. This approach, according to them, could enable physicians to administer to patients a smaller amount of chemotherapeutics than is currently used, thus reducing the side effects of treatment. However, serious concerns are being raised over the environmental impact of the global nanotechnological revolution and its current need for toxic materials. Gold nanoparticles, so incredibly tiny they can't be seen by the naked eye, are used. Unfortunately, producing the gold nanoparticles requires extremely toxic chemicals and harmful acids (http://NaturalNews.com/Cinnamon may be a treasure of green nanotechnology.html). These particles are also able to pass through cell membranes in organisms, and their interactions with biological systems are relatively unknown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoparticles). To understand more of the advantages and possible advantages of the use of nanoparticles, it is worthy to know the history. Although nanoparticles are generally considered an invention of modern science, they actually have a very long history. Nanoparticles were used by artisans as far back as the 9th century in Mesopotamia for generating a glittering effect on the surface of pots. Even these days, pottery

from the Middle Ages and Renaissance often retain a distinct gold or copper colored metallic glitter. This so called luster is caused by a metallic film that was applied to the transparent surface of a glazing. The luster can still be visible if the film has resisted atmospheric oxidation and other weathering

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoparticles). Michael Faraday provided the first description, in scientific terms, of the optical properties of nanometer-scale metals in his classic 1857 paper. In a subsequent paper, the author (Turner) points out that: "It is well known that when thin leaves of gold or silver are mounted upon glass and heated to a temperature which is well below a red heat (~500 C), a remarkable change of properties takes place, whereby the continuity of the metallic film is destroyed. The result is that white light is now freely transmitted, reflection is correspondingly diminished, while the electrical resistivity is enormously increased" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoparticles). The term nanotechnology emerged only in 1980s. It was caused by the invention of scanning tunneling microscope, an instrument for imaging surfaces at the atomic level developed in 1981. Today, nanotechnology is defined as the study of manipulating matter on atomic and molecular scale. Generally, a nanotechnology deal with structures sized between 1 to 100 nanometer in at least one dimension, and involves developing materials or devices possessing at least one dimension within that size (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology). Going back to the growing debate on the use of nanotechnology regarding on the utilization of toxic chemicals, one article has reported an answer. According to

the article entitled Cinnamon may be a treasure of green nanotechnology (Dated December 26, 2010), the research team combined gold salts with cinnamon and stirred the mixture in water to synthesize gold nanoparticles. This new process not only uses no toxic materials, but it doesn't require any electricity, either. In addition, they discovered that natural phytochemicals in cinnamon are released when the nanoparticles are created -- and these phytochemicals combined with gold nanoparticles assist in the destruction or imaging of malignancies. But the use of toxic chemicals in the production of nanoparticles is only one of the implications of nanotechnology. Greater danger is that new developments could result in untraceable weapons of mass destruction and the uncertainty of its reactions in human body when applied as medicine

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology). To sum it up, development of nanotechnology and specifically the use of nanoparticles as medicinal application is of promising worth. Therefore, it is crucial that scientists find ways to establish a workable connection between nanotechnology and science. They should do extensive researches regarding on how to mitigate the potential adverse effects of these particles in human body. Finally, international agreements must be established with regards to developments of nanotechnology to ensure that it would not be used for destruction. Nanotechnology designed as a tool for the improvement of everyones healthcare and not for everyones destruction.

LITERATURE CITED: WILBRAHAM, A.C., STALEY, D.D., MATTA, M.S., AND WATERMAN, E.L. (2003). Chemistry. 5th ed. Singapore. Prentice Hall, Inc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology (Retrieved on August 13, 2011) http://NaturalNews.com/Cinnamon may be a treasure of green nanotechnology.html (Retrieved on August 17, 2011) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanoparticles (Retrieved on August 18, 2011)