Enhancing agrochemical efficiency through their integration as building block in MOFs

Abstract

Pesticides are necessary to protect crops and help sustain food production. While pesticides must be toxic to be effective against their targets, the real challenge lies in maintaining productivity and profitability with reduced reliance on harmful agrochemicals. Among the proposed novel formulations, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have recently been described as efficient agrochemical release systems for plant protection. In particular, our group has originally described the use of agrochemicals as building blocks for the construction of MOFs, with a synergistic activity. Here, we present the novel GR-MOF-29, based on the naturally occurring herbicide glufosinate (Glu) and the widely used bactericidal agent Cu2 +. The synthesis of GR-MOF-29 was optimized and scaled, and the obtained material fully characterized. The combined herbicidal and bactericidal effect of GR-MOF-29 was confirmed against Lolium multiflorum (Italian ryegrass) as a weed affecting important crops, and Pseudomonas syringae and Escherichia coli, two principal bacteria strains involved in agricultural and animal infections. GR-MOF-29 shows a significant herbicide effect against L. multiflorum, yielding similar results to glufosinate. It is also an effective antibacterial agent against both strains, improving the results obtained with the individual ingredients or even with the physical mixture of the precursors, suggesting a contact-killing bactericidal mechanism. These results underscore the potential of AgroMOFs as a powerful platform for creating next generation of highly efficient agrochemicals.