Making natural products as magnetic particles and fluids: A simple strategy based on ferromagnetic organic compounds with the structural nucleus of isoquinoline alkaloids

Abstract In this study a new strategy of making natural products magnetic for potential separation and pharmaceutical purposes for the first time. As a model, a series of isoquinoline alkaloid-based Fe(III) compounds were prepared and characterized by UV–Vis, Raman and ESI-MS spectra, successively. The magnetic properties of the obtained compounds in solid status were measured by VSM and Guye method, it was found these molecules were paramagnetic because of the iron in their anionic part, and the magnetic susceptibility were in the range of 2–4 × 10−5. Furthermore, their responsiveness to external magnetic field in the status of solid or fluid provides the possibility for the application of this magnetization technology in potential separation processes from the herbal plants. At the same time, some magnetic compounds (such as [Ber·H]+[FeCl4]-) showed obvious activity of anticancer, meanwhile the magnetism makes them have advantages in possible targeted delivery. The developed strategy skillfully achieves multiple purposes.