Acid-functionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles Research Articles

Magnetically recyclable adsorption of anionic pollutants from wastewater using 3,5-diaminobenzoic acid-functionalized magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles

Simple one-step synthesis of magnetic Fe3O4@PABA nanoadsorbents for magnetically recyclable adsorption of anionic azo dye pollutants from wastewater.

Expression of concern: Preparation of polydopamine sulfamic acid-functionalized magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles with a core/shell nanostructure as heterogeneous and recyclable nanocatalysts for the acetylation of alcohols, phenols, amines and thiols under solvent-free conditions

Expression of concern for ‘Preparation of polydopamine sulfamic acid-functionalized magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles with a core/shell nanostructure as heterogeneous and recyclable nanocatalysts for the acetylation of alcohols, phenols, amines and thiols under solvent-free conditions’ by Hojat Veisi et al., Green Chem., 2016, 18, 6337–6348, https://doi.org/10.1039/C6GC01975G.

High-sensitivity biosensor based on SERS integrated with dendrimer-assisted boronic acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles for IL-6 detection in human serum

High-sensitivity quantitative analysis of sepsis disease markers in circulating blood is essential for sepsis early diagnosis, rapid stratification, and interventional treatment. Herein, a high-sensitivity biosensor combining surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and functionalized magnetic materials was developed to quantitatively detect interleukin-6 (IL-6), a glycoprotein disease marker closely related to sepsis. First, boronic acid-functionalized magnetic nanomaterials with high adsorption performance were synthesized by utilizing the branched polyethyleneimine to provide many binding sites for boronic acid. Under antibody-free conditions, dendrimer-assisted boronic acid-functionalized magnetic nanomaterials selectively capture glycoproteins in complex biological samples as bio-capture element. Then, a core–shell bimetallic material with plenty of ‘hot spots’ was designed and synthesized as the enhancement substrate. The 4-Mercaptobenzonitrile (4-MP) with a characteristic peak at 2224 cm−1 (Raman-silent region) was embedded as the Raman reporter to form a SERS immune probe with highly efficient electromagnetic enhancement effect, achieving specific recognition and high-sensitivity detection of IL-6 on bio-capture elements. Using this strategy for quantitative analysis of IL-6, a wide detection range (0.5–5000 pg ml−1) and a low detection limit (0.453 pg ml−1) were obtained. Moreover, this method exhibited excellent detection performance for IL-6 in human serum samples, demonstrating its potential promise in screening clinically relevant diseases. The biosensor presented here not only provides a novel and universally applicable sensing strategy for the enrichment and detection of trace glycoprotein disease markers, but also the application of a portable Raman spectrometer provides a more reliable experimental basis for the diagnosis and treatment of major diseases in the clinic or remote and deprived areas.

Phenylboronic acid-functionalized magnetic metal-organic framework nanoparticles for magnetic solid phase extraction of five benzoylurea insecticides

This research involves the construction of a phenylboronic acid-functionalized magnetic UiO-66 metal-organic framework (MOF) nanoparticle (CPBA@UiO-66@Fe3O4). Its design is primarily for the magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) of benzoylurea insecticides. An organic ligand, 2-amino terephthalic acid (2-ATPA), facilitated the introduction of amino groups while keeping the original crystal structure of UiO-66 intact. The constructed UiO-66 MOF showcases a porous structure and extensive surface area, thereby providing an optimal platform for further functionalization. The employment of 4-carboxylphenylboronic acid as a modifier notably amplified the extraction efficiency for benzoylureas. This improvement was due to the formation of B-N coordination and other secondary interactions. By integrating this with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), we established a quantitative analytical method for benzoylurea insecticides. This method achieved a wide linear range (2.5–500 μg L−1 or 5–500 μg L−1), satisfactory recoveries (83.3–95.1%), and acceptable limits of detection (LODs: 0.3–1.0 μg L−1). The developed method proved successful when applied to six tea infusion samples, representing China's six major tea categories. Semi-fermented and light-fermented tea samples demonstrated relatively higher spiking recoveries.

Design and preparation of proline, tryptophan and poly-l-lysine functionalized magnetic nanoparticles and their radiolabeling with 131I and 177Lu for potential theranostic use

Surface modification of magnetic nanoparticles with poly-l-lysine, proline, and tryptophan was used to design potential theranostic agents for the application in cancer diagnosis and radionuclide-hyperthermia therapy. Characterization of bare and functionalized magnetic nanoparticles was performed in detail. The transparency of the examined magnetic nanoparticles was measured in the non-alternating magnetic field for a complete and better understanding of hyperthermia. For the first time amino acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles were labeled with theranostic radionuclides 131I and 177Lu. The specific absorption rate (SAR) procured for poly-l-lysine functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (SAR values of 99.7 W/g at H0 = 15.9 kA/m and resonant frequency of 252 kHz) demonstrated their possible application in magnetic hyperthermia. Poly-l-lysine functionalized magnetic nanoparticles labeled with 177Lu showed the highest radiochemical purity (>99.00 %) and in vitro stability in saline and serum (>98.00 % up to 96 h). The in vivo analysis performed after their intravenous administration in healthy Wistar rats presented good in vivo stability for several days. Encouraging results as well as magnetic and radiochemical properties of 177Lu–PLL-MNPs (80 °C) justify their further testing toward the potential use as theranostic agents for diagnostic and combined radionuclide-hyperthermia therapeutic applications.

Synthesis of Phenylboronic Acid-Functionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles for Sensitive Soil Enzyme Assays.

Soil enzymes, such as invertase, urease, acidic phosphatase and catalase, play critical roles in soil biochemical reactions and are involved in soil fertility. However, it remains a great challenge to efficiently concentrate soil enzymes and sensitively assess enzyme activity. In this study, we synthesized phenylboronic acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles to rapidly capture soil enzymes for sensitive soil enzyme assays. The iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were firstly prepared by the co-precipitation method and then functionalized by (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane, polyethyleneimine and phenylboric acid in turn, obtaining the final nanoparticles (MNPPBA). Protein-capturing assays showed that the functionalized MNPs had a much higher protein-capturing capacity than the naked MNPs (56% versus 6%). Moreover, MNPPBA almost thoroughly captured the tested enzymes, i.e., urease, invertase, and alkaline phosphatase, from enzyme solutions. Based on MNPPBA, a soil enzyme assay method was developed by integration of enzyme capture, magnetic separation and trace enzyme analysis. The method was successfully applied in determining trace enzyme activity in rhizosphere soil. This study provides a strategy to sensitively determine soil enzyme activity for mechanistic investigation of soil fertility and plant–microbiome interaction.

Study of the evolution of 3-MCPDEs and GEs in the infant formula production chain employing a modified indirect method based on magnetic solid phase extraction

Herein, a modified indirect method was established for the determination of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol esters (3-MCPDEs) and glycidyl esters (GEs), employing magnetic solid phase extraction by boronic acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles to replace the traditional clean-up procedure. Compared with routine methods, it has been proved to be more sensitive with limits of detection in the range of 0.02–1.5 μg/kg and less susceptible to contamination of phenylboronic acid derivatives and fatty acid methyl esters. The proposed method was applied to analyze 42 samples covering the entire infant formula (IF) production chain. Results revealed that homogenization process contributed 79–91 % of the total growth of the contaminants due to the vegetable oil addition, while the following evaporation and spray-drying processes contributed 9–21 % of the total growth owing to involved heat treatment. The GE levels in final IF products exceeded the maximum level set by EU regulation 2020/1322, indicating quality safety concerns in the production chain.

Introducing a covalent thiol-based protected immobilized acetylcholinesterase with enhanced enzymatic performances for biosynthesis of esters

Acetylcholinesterase covalent immobilization was performed on mercaptoacetic acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles. Upon the thiol-based protection of the enzyme active center, its kinetics, stability, and activity in organic solvents were enhanced and its initial activity was fully recovered. The optimal results for the immobilization (i.e., yield=98.3 ± 5.2 %; enzyme loading=1.20 ± 0.06 mg mg−1) were found at an acetylcholinesterase initial concentration of 12.0 mg mL−1 and an immobilization time of 4.0 hrs. The optimum pH of both enzymes was over 7.0–9.0. The optimal temperature was measured as 40.0–45.0 and 30 ºC for immobilized and free AChE, respectively. The immobilized enzyme retained about 92.1 ± 3.0 % and 91.5 ± 3.0 % of the initial activity after 65 days and 10 cycles, respectively. The Km and Vmax were calculated as 136.2 ± 8.2 µM and 4.3 ± 0.2 µmol mg−1 min−1for the immobilized and 162.0 ± 9.7 µM and 3.63 ± 0.20 µmol mg−1 min−1for the free enzyme. The novel biocatalyst was utilized for ultra-fast esterification, for the first time, revealing 73.0 ± 2.3 % yield after 30.0 min and 85.0 ± 2.7 % after 15.0 min along with fully saving the catalytic efficiency over 6 and 8 cycles for solvent-free and solvent-controlled reactions, respectively. As a consequence, this biocatalyst is an excellent candidate for the application of the AChE enzyme in the commercial synthesis of esters.

Highly efficient separation and enrichment of polyphenols by 6-aminopyridine-3-boronic acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles assisted by polyethylenimine.

Polyphenols have found a lot of therapeutic effects and potential applications such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, mutant resistance, immunosuppressant and anti-tumor properties. They can be divided into five main classes, namely flavonoids, phenolic acids, stilbenes, lignans, and others. Thus, the content detection of polyphenols in real samples such as fruit juice and tea is of great significance. Due to the presence of complex interfering components in actual samples, separation and enrichment of polyphenols prior to analysis is key. Therefore, it is quite necessary to establish a simple, low-cost and efficient purification method for cis-diol-containing polyphenols from real samples. Boronate affinity materials are able to reversibly bind cis-diol-containing compounds by forming a five- or six-membered boronic cyclic ester in aqueous media. However, conventional boronate affinity materials exhibited low binding capacity and high binding pH. In this study, the polyethyleneimine (PEI)-assisted 6-aminopyridine-3-boronic acid functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were developed to capture efficiently cis-diol-containing polyphenols under neutral condition. PEI was applied as a scaffold to amplify the number of boronic acid moieties. While 6-aminopyridine-3-boronic acid was used as an affinity ligand due to low pKa value and excellent water solubility toward polyphenols. The results indicated that the prepared boronic acid-functionalized MNPs provided high binding capacity and fast binding kinetics under neutral conditions. In addition, the obtained MNPs exhibited relatively high binding affinity (Kd ≈ 10−4 M), low binding pH (pH ≥ 6.0) and tolerance of the interference of abundant sugars.

PH-Responsive epitope-imprinted magnetic nanoparticles for selective separation and extraction of chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid in traditional Chinese medicines.

Chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid often coexist in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) and play roles as antioxidation, antiviral, antitumor and anti-inflammatory agents. Due to their low content and the presence of structural analogues, they cannot be effectively separated by conventional extraction methods. Molecularly imprinted polymers, as synthesized receptors with antibody-like binding properties, have significant advantages in separating structural analogues. However, the harsh imprinting conditions easily induced the degradation of chlorogenic acid. Therefore, caffeic acid was used as an epitope template to replace chlorogenic acid for imprinting. Boronic acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were selected as substrates, which could not only facilitate the immobilization and removal of the templates by pH regulation, but also achieve rapid separation under an external magnetic field. Tetraethyl orthosilicate was selected as an imprinting monomer which allowed for precise control of the thickness of the imprinting layer by adjusting the imprinting time. The prepared epitope-imprinted MNPs showed excellent specificity, in combination with high performance liquid chromatography, have been successfully applied to the selective separation and detection of chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid in TCMs.

Synthesis and characterization of new surface modified magnetic nanoparticles and application for the extraction of letrozole from human plasma and analysis with HPLC-fluorescence

Acetic acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles modified by (3-amino-propyl)-tri-ethoxy silane was synthesized and used as a new solid-phases adsorbent. Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and Electrophoretic Light Scattering (ELS) were used to characterize the modified nanoparticles. The molecular interaction between letrozole and nanoparticles (NPs) was studied using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The developed nanoparticles were applied for dispersive solid-phase extraction of letrozole (an anticancer drug) from human plasma. Extracted letrozole was quantified using an isocratic HPLC/FL method. The extraction efficiency was optimized using one experiment at a time optimization method based on the adsorbent quantity, sample pH, adsorption time, desorption time, and elution solvent type/volume. The analysis method was fully validated according to the FDA guideline for bioanalytical method validation. The linear quantification range was 0.01−1 μg/mL and the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was 0.01 μg/mL. Plasma samples of 6 patients were analyzed and the measured letrozole concentrations range was 0.04−0.31 μg/mL. The newly synthesized magnetic nanoparticles were used successfully for the extraction of letrozole from spiked and clinical plasma samples. The developed method is a precise and simple method that is suitable for pharmacokinetic studies and clinical applications.

A general and inexpensive protocol for the nanomagnetic 5-sulfosalicylic acid catalyzed the synthesis of tetrahydrobenzo[b]pyrans and quinoxaline derivatives

In this study, a novel acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles with high loaded multifunctional acidic groups was fabricated by anchoring water-soluble 5-sulfosalicylic acid onto the surface silica-modified Fe3O4. The magnetically recyclable Fe3O4@SiO2@5-SA (20 mg) showed excellent reactivity for greener synthesis of tetrahydrobenzo[b]pyrans via a three-component reaction of different aromatic aldehydes, malononitrile and dimedone in good to excellent yields (70–95%) in pure water at short reaction times (40–150 min). The method shows eco-friendly synthesis of quinoxaline derivatives from direct condensation of substituted 1,2-diamine with various 1,2-dicarbonyl in ethanol at room temperature to afford the desired quinoxalines with good to excellent yields (60–97%) at shorter reaction times (120–240 min). The morphology and magnetic properties of MNPs were studied with scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier translation infrared spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer and thermogravimetric. The results showed that the Fe3O4@SiO2@5-SA catalyst is completely recoverable by an external magnet and retained catalytic activity after five recycles.

Catalytic application of sulfamic acid-functionalized magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (SA-MNPs) for protection of aromatic carbonyl compounds and alcohols: experimental and theoretical studies.

Protection techniques of functional groups within the structure of organic compounds are important synthetic methods against unwanted attacks from various reagents during synthetic sequences. Acetal and thioacetal groups are well known as protective functional groups in organic reactions. In this study, acetalization of carbonyl compounds with diols and dithiols and methoxymethylation of alcohols with formaldehyde dimethyl acetal (FDMA) have been carried out using sulfamic acid-functionalized magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (SA-MNPs) as a heterogeneous solid acid catalyst. Products were characterized by FT-IR and NMR spectroscopies. The structural and electronic properties of some products were computed by quantum mechanical (QM) methods. Depending on the stereochemistry and electronic properties that were obtained by computational results, we have suggested that hyperconjugation plays a key role in the structural properties of 2-phenyl-1,3-dioxolane derivatives, and also the electron transfer between π-electrons of the aromatic ring with the 3d orbital of S-atoms influences the 2-phenyl-1,3-dithiane derivatives' structure.

The fabrication of dendrimeric phenylboronic acid-functionalized magnetic graphene oxide nanoparticles with excellent adsorption performance for the separation and purification of horseradish peroxidase

A dendrimeric phenylboronic acid-affinitive magnetic graphene oxide nanoparticle was synthesized and used to separate and purify HRP.

Sulfonic Acid-Functionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles as an Efficient Catalyst for the Synthesis of Benzo[4, 5]imidazo[1, 2-a]pyrimidine Derivatives, 2-Aminobenzothia Zolomethylnaphthols and 1-Amidoalkyl-2-naphthols.

Carbon-based sulfonated catalysts have several advantages but their separation by filtration is still a challenge. On the other hand, the synthesis of magnetic sulfonated carbon nanoparticle indicated that the magnetic separation could be an efficient way to separate the catalyst from the reaction mixture. In order to synthesize a separable magnetic Fe3O4@C-SO3H nanoparticle (MNPs) with high catalytic activity in organic transformation, three environmental-benign and low-cost sulfonic acidfunctionalized magnetic nanoparticle (Fe3O4@C-SO3H) were successfully synthesized. The Nano catalysts were prepared by solvothermal carbonization of Sucrose (Suc), Starch (Sta) or Cellulose (Cel) in the presence of Fe3O4 Nanoparticle and then grafting of the sulfonic groups on the surface of resulted Fe3O4@C nanoparticles in the presence of p-Toluenesulfonic. Then the Nano catalysts were characterized using XRD, FESEM and FT-IR. Three Fe3O4@C-SO3H were successfully synthesized. The resulted MNPs were used for the synthesis of benzo [4, 5] imidazo[1, 2-a]-pyrimidine derivatives, 2/-aminobenzothiazolomethylnaphthols and 1-amidoalkyl-2-naphthols under solvent-free conditions in excellent yields. It was found that high catalytic activity and easy magnetic separation from the reaction mixture are important achievement with regard to the efficiency and reusability of the catalyst in synthesis. The MNPs were synthesized and used as an efficient catalysts for the one-pot synthesis of benzo [4, 5] imidazo[1, 2-a]-pyrimidine derivatives, 2/-aminobenzothiazolomethylnaphthols, and 1-amidoalkyl-2- naphthols under solvent-free conditions in excellent yields. High catalytic activity and easy magnetic separation from the reaction mixture are two factors for evaluating the performance of Fe3O4@C-SO3H nanoparticles in the organic transformations.

Pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse using two different acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles: A novel approach for high sugar recovery

Pretreatment is one of the most important steps in the production of bioethanol from renewable feedstocks like lignocellulosic biomass, however, existing pretreatment approaches have some limitations. In this context, two different acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) i.e. alkylsulfonic acid (Fe3O4-MNPs@Si@AS) and butylcarboxylic acid (Fe3O4-MNPs@Si@BCOOH) were synthesized and evaluated for their efficacy at different concentration in the pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse. It was observed that both of these acid-functionalized MNPs showed concentration-dependent promising catalytic activity as compared to conventional acid pretreatment. Both Fe3O4-MNPs@Si@AS and Fe3O4-MNPs@Si@BCOOH at 500 mg/g of bagasse showed the maximum amount of sugar (xylose) liberated i.e. 18.83 g/L and 18.67 g/L, respectively which are comparatively higher than the normal acid pretreatment (15.40 g/L) and untreated sample (0.28 g/L). Further, both the acid-functionalized MNPs used were recovered by applying magnetic field and reused for next two subsequent cycles of pretreatment. Therefore, such nanotechnology-based approaches can be used as a rapid and eco-friendly alternative method for the pretreatment of a variety of lignocellulosic materials. Moreover, the reuse of the same MNPs for more than one cycle of pretreatment can also help to reduce the cost involved in the process.

Facile synthesis of boronic acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles for efficient dopamine extraction

Because dopamine (DA) is one of the most critical neurotransmitters that influence a wide variety of motivated human behaviors, it is necessary to develop a facile diagnostic tool that can quantify the physiological level. In this study, core–shell magnetic silica nanoparticles (Fe3O4@SiO2) were prepared using a modified sol–gel reaction. The Fe3O4@SiO2 were functionalized using 3-aminophenylboronic acid (APBA) via a facile and rapid synthetic route, hereafter referred to as Fe3O4@SiO2@APBA The resultant Fe3O4@SiO2@APBA not only adsorbed DA molecules, but also were easily separated from solution using a simple magnetic manipulation. The adsorbed amounts of DA by the Fe3O4@SiO2@APBA were quantified by measuring the changes in fluorescence intensity of polydopamine (at 463 nm) originated from the self-polymerized DA remained in the supernatant before and after the adsorption process. The Fe3O4@SiO2@APBA exhibited two-stage adsorption behavior for DA, and the maximal adsorption capacity was 108.46 μg/g at pH 8.5. Our particle system demonstrated the potential application for extracting compounds with cis-diols (including catechol amines) from the biological fluid.

Direct Oligosaccharide Profiling Using Thin-Layer Chromatography Coupled with Ionic Liquid-Stabilized Nanomatrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization Mass Spectrometry.

The in-depth characterization of glycan structures is crucial to understanding their structure-function relationships and their effects on health and various diseases. Despite advances in rapid analysis, the utility of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI MS) is limited for complex mixtures of carbohydrates due to their low ionization efficiency and the difficulty in separating oligosaccharides because of their high structural similarity. In this study, we developed an ionic liquid (IL)-stabilized, nanomatrix-decorated, thin-layer chromatography (TLC)-MALDI MS method for simultaneous and rapid separation, detection, and identification of oligosaccharides to achieve efficient profiling. The IL demonstrated good dispersion and stabilization for the spin coating of dihydroxybenzoic acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (DHB@MNPs) on the TLC plate with spot homogeneity, which contributed to the observed high reproducibility (<20% CV) and 12- and 28-fold signal enhancement. Although the TLC was not able to separate isomeric glycans, the DHB@MNPs generate diagnostic glycosidic and cross-ring cleavage ions, enabling on-spot structural elucidation of composition, sequence, branching, and linkage of glycans in each separated spot. Without chemical derivatization of glycan samples, glycan visualization by TLC and tandem MS, our integrated platform, allowed the identification of 25 oligosaccharides from human milk, and heatmap analysis revealed the variability in the oligosaccharide abundance in samples from individual donors at different lactation times, which may provide insight into the microbiota and immunity of infants. With the demonstrated simplicity of our sample preparation method along with the achieved separation and in-depth structural characterization, our approach can be used for the rapid screening of other oligosaccharide-rich samples.

Preparation of Boronic Acid-Functionalized Magnetic Nano-Particles by Polarity-regulating Molecular Self-assembly

Boronic acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles were prepared and characterized in this investigation. At first, the single-layer oleic acid-coated Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles were prepared by the chemical coprecipitation method and then the nanoparticles were surface-modified by a layer of poly(4-vinylphenylboronic acid) by the polarity-regulating molecular self-assembly technique to obtain the boronic acid-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@OA@BA). The resulted nanoparticles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The results show that the molecules of oleic acid can form the inner layer chemisorption on the surface of Fe3O4 and the double-layer coating structure on the outer layer. The poly(4-vinylphenylboronic acid) coated nanoparticles with content about 26% have an average size of 15 nm and the saturation magnetization of 43 emu/g. Finally, the adsorption effect of Fe3O4@OA@BA on bovine serum albumin (BSA) was studied. Under optimal adsorption conditions, the adsorption capacity on BSA is 135μg/mg, which embodies the superiority of molecular self-assembly to prepare functionalized nanoparticles.

Citric acid functionalized silane coupling versus post-grafting strategy for dual pH and saline responsive delivery of cisplatin by Fe3O4/carboxyl functionalized mesoporous SiO2 hybrid nanoparticles: A-synthesis, physicochemical and biological characterization

Synthesis of monodisperse carboxylic acid-functionalized magnetic mesoporous silica nanoparticles is performed by either two-step sol-gel process or post-grafting using citric acid modified isocyanate silane coupling agent (MMSN-NCO-CA) or succinic anhydride modified magnetic mesoporous silica (MMSN-NH-SA). Morphology, structure and magnetic properties of bare and mesoporous silica coated Fe3O4 core were studied using various techniques such as FTIR, VSM, TEM, FESEM, XRD and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms (BET). Cisplatin (cis-Pt) adsorption isotherms and its release profile in various media were investigated by ICP-OES. MMSN-NCO-CA with mean particle size 107 nm had lower surface area (87.5 m2/g) and larger pore size (6.9 nm) in comparison with MMSN-NH-SA (respective values of 151.2 m2/g and 3.5 nm). cis-Pt loading into particles followed a saturable adsorption with respect to the drug to particle mass ratios. More sustained release of cis-Pt was observed for MMSN-NCO-CA, though both nanoparticles exhibited a pH- and saline concentration-dependent drug release. In addition, general and cis-Pt specific cytotoxicity were examined by MTT assay in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell line, and to further detect apoptosis, acridine orange/ethidium bromide dual cell staining was investigated by fluorescence microscopy. In-vitro anti-tumor efficiency of cis-Pt loaded MMSN-NCO-CA and MMSN-NH-SA were similarly enhanced in comparison to free cis-Pt; however, more specific apoptotic death occurred for cis-Pt loaded MMSN-NCO-CA. Therefore, the as-synthesized citric acid functionalized core-shell magnetic mesoporous hybrid nanoparticles could be used as a promising drug carriers for cancer therapy in-vivo.