Molecules (Nov 2022)

Tricyano-Methylene-Pyridine Based High-Performance Aggregation-Induced Emission Photosensitizer for Imaging and Photodynamic Therapy

  • Xupeng Wu,
  • Zhirong Zhu,
  • Zhenxing Liu,
  • Xiangyu Li,
  • Tijian Zhou,
  • Xiaolei Zhao,
  • Yuwei Wang,
  • Yiqi Shi,
  • Qianqian Yu,
  • Wei-Hong Zhu,
  • Qi Wang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27227981
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 27, no. 22
p. 7981

Abstract

Read online

Photosensitizers equipped with high reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation capability and bright emission are essential for accurate tumor imaging and precise photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, traditional aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) photosensitizers cannot simultaneously produce desirable ROS and bright fluorescence, resulting in poor image-guided therapy effect. Herein, we report an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) photosensitizer TCM-Ph with a strong donor–π–acceptor (D–π–A) structure, which greatly separates the HOMO–LUMO distribution and reduces the ΔEST, thereby increasing the number of triplet excitons and producing more ROS. The AIE photosensitizer TCM-Ph has bright near-infrared emission, as well as a higher ROS generation capacity than the commercial photosensitizers Bengal Rose (RB) and Chlorine e6 (Ce6), and can effectively eliminate cancer cells under image guidance. Therefore, the AIE photosensitizer TCM-Ph has great potential to replace the commercial photosensitizers.

Keywords