Thermogravimetric
analysis (TGA) is a technique which can probe
chemisorption of substrates onto metal organic frameworks. A TGA method
was developed to examine the catalytic oxidation of S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) by the MOF H3[(Cu4Cl)3(BTTri)8] (abbr. Cu-BTTri; H3BTTri = 1,3,5-tris(1H-1,2,3-triazol-5-yl)benzene),
yielding glutathione disulfide (GSSG) and nitric oxide (NO). Thermal
analysis of reduced glutathione (GSH), GSSG, GSNO, and Cu-BTTri revealed
thermal resolution of all four analytes through different thermal
onset temperatures and weight percent changes. Two reaction systems
were probed: an aerobic column flow reaction and an anaerobic solution
batch reaction with gas agitation. In both systems, Cu-BTTri was reacted
with a 1 mM GSH, GSSG, or GSNO solution, copiously rinsed with distilled–deionized
water (dd-H2O), dried (25 °C, < 1 Torr), and assessed
by TGA. Additionally, stock, effluent or supernatant, and rinse solutions
for each glutathione derivative within each reaction system were assessed
by mass spectrometry (MS) to inform on chemical transformations promoted
by Cu-BTTri as well as relative analyte concentrations. Both reaction
systems exhibited chemisorption of glutathione derivatives to the
MOF by TGA. Mass spectrometry analyses revealed that in both systems,
GSH was oxidized to GSSG, which chemisorbed to the MOF whereas GSSG
remained unchanged during chemisorption. For GSNO, chemisorption to
the MOF without reaction was observed in the aerobic column setup,
whereas conversion to GSSG and subsequent chemisorption was observed
in the anaerobic batch setup. These findings suggest that within this
reaction system, GSSG is the primary adsorbent of concern with regards
to strong binding to Cu-BTTri. Development of similar thermal methods
could allow for the probing of MOF reactivity for a wide range of
systems, informing on important considerations such as reduced catalytic
efficiency from poisoning, recyclability, and loading capacities of
contaminants or toxins with MOFs.