Bioactive silicon

The term biocompatibility is defined as the ability of a material to perform with an appropriate host response in a specific situation" (Williams 2008). A biocompatible material can be inert, where it would not induce a host immune response and have little or no toxic properties. A biocompatible material can also be bioactive, initiating a controlled physiological response. For porous silicon, bioactive properties were initially suggested based on the observation that hydroxyapatite (HA) crystals grow on microporous silicon films. HA has implications for bone tissue implants and bone tissue engineering (Canham 1995). An extension of this work showed that an applied cathodic current was able to further promote calcification on the surface (Canham et al. 1996). More recently, Moxon et al. showed another example of bioactive porous silicon where the material promoted neuron viability when inserted into rat brains as a potential neuronal biosensor, whereas planar silicon showed significantly fewer viable neurons surrounding the implant site (Moxon et al. 2007). 

Tacke, R., and Wannagat, U. Syntheses and Properties of Bioactive Organo-Silicon Compounds. 84,1-75(1979). 

Silapharmaka often exhibit a stronger drug efficiency compared to the carbon analoga. They are derived from the latter by replacing tetravalent carbon by tetravalent silicon at the bioactive center. This is one more nice example of the analogy between tetravalent carbon and silicon. 

Research of biologically active silicone materials continues. The synthesis and characterization of polysiloxanes having bioactive pendant groups,556 557 and the preparation of bioactive porous organic-inorganic hybrids for medical applications,558 have been reported. 

In the silicon carbide manufacturing process the major bioactive dusts identified are quartz particles and silicon carbide fibers generated in the process. In contrast to the silicon carbide fibers, silicon carbide particles were... 

Syntheses and Properties of Bioactive Organo-Silicon Compounds... 

Several examples are given to demonstrate the synthetic possibilities for the preparation of bioactive silicon compounds. 

Bioactive Silicon Compounds without Organic Analogues... 

However, synthesis and biological screening of hundreds of novel silicon containing compounds resulted in the discovery of a large number of interesting bioactive framework structures, from which only a few characteristic examples are represented in this chapter. 

Syntheses and biological tests of several silicon analogues of known bioactive carbon compounds were therefore carried out. The first investigators in this field have been Fregert/Rorsman and Fessenden et al. 

Silicon Containing Esters with Different Types of Bioactivity... 

With reference to this point of view a large amount of bioactive silicon compounds with a short duration of action was synthesized and investigated in pharmacological and toxicological effects. 

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