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Pure Appl. Chem., 2006, Vol. 78, No. 5, pp. 1003-1014

http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/pac200678051003

One-pot synthesis of monodisperse iron oxide nanoparticles for potential biomedical applications

Jin Xie1, Sheng Peng1, Nathan Brower1, Nader Pourmand2, Shan X. Wang3 and Shouheng Sun1

1 Department of Chemistry, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
2 Stanford Genome Technology Center, 855 California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
3 Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA

Abstract: One-pot reaction of iron(III) acetylacetonate, Fe(acac)3, [or Fe(acac)3 and M(acac)2 where M = Mn and Co], with 1,2-alkanediol, oleic acid, and oleylamine in high boiling organic solvent leads to monodisperse ferrite MFe2O4 nanoparticles. Depending on the concentration of the metal precursors, surfactant-to-metal precursor ratio and the solvent used in the reaction, the particle size from this one-pot reaction can be tuned from 4 to 15 nm. The as-synthesized iron oxide nanoparticles have an inverse spinel structure, and their magnetic properties are controlled by particle size and M in the MFe2O4 structure. The hydrophobic iron oxide nanoparticles are readily transformed into hydrophilic ones by functional phospholipid addition to the as-synthesized particles and as a result, the monodisperse nanoparticles are readily functionalized with biotin, -COOH, -SH, and -NH2, facilitating their link to biomolecules for biomedical applications.