DNA-Assisted Assembly of Potassium Iron (III) Oxalate Nanorods

The present work deals with an assembly of the Potassium iron (III) oxalate complex by calf thymus DNA and the influence of temperature on the DNA-assisted assembly of the metal complex. DNA-assisted assembly of the Potassium iron (III) oxalate complex is studied for its morphological changes at two different temperatures by scanning electron and atomic force microscopy. Calf thymus DNA leads to a 500 nm range cube-shaped Potassium iron (III) oxalate complex at room temperature (25 ± 0.5 °C). On average, 10 µm rectangular prism-shaped nanorods with a diameter of 400 nm complex are observed at higher temperatures (70 ± 0.5°C). The topology of Potassium iron (III) oxalate-calf thymus DNA crystals shows increased surface roughness due to the melting behaviour of ctDNA at the higher temperature. The templating effect of the DNA on the Potassium iron (III) oxalate complex and its crystallite size is studied by X-ray diffraction analysis. The average crystallite size of calf thymus DNA-assisted Potassium iron (III) oxalate complex at room and high temperatures are 41 and 29 nm respectively. The DNA-assisted assembly can form a long array of Potassium iron (III) oxalate crystals at high temperatures. The morphological behaviour of the complexes with DNA at high temperatures can aid in developing metal complexes with unique therapeutic choices and opportunities.