title: Unsymmetrically substituted benzonaphthoporphyrazines: a new class of cationic photosensitizers for the photodynamic therapy of cancer.
abstract: Unsymmetrical zinc(II) complexes of benzonaphthoporphyrazines 5a-12a bearing between one and eight pyridyloxy substituents are synthesized by statistical tetramerization of 6-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-2,3-naphthalenedicarbonitrile (1) with 4-(3-pyridyloxy)- or 4,5-bis-(3-pyridyloxy)-1,2-benzenedicarbonitrile (2, 3). Methylation of 5a-12a leads to the catianic pyridyloxybenzonaphthoporphyrazines 5b-12b having between one to eight positive charges. The Q-band transition in the visible spectra exhibits a bathochromic shift from 680 to 760 nm dependent upon the number of annelated naphthalene rings. The singlet oxygen quantum yields of the benzonaphthoporphyrazines determined by the dye-sensitized photooxidation of 1,3-diphenylisobenzofurane is surprisingly high (in the range of zinc phthalocyanine). The photooxidative stabilities of the photosensitizers described quantitatively by first-order kinetics decrease with the number of annelated naphtho groups. A linear correlation between the logarithm of the decomposition rate constant and the position of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)-level of the photosensitizers is found. Destabilization of the HOMO leads to a decrease of the photostability. Due to their adjustable long wavelength absorption, their intramolecular polarity axis and their different hydrophilic/hydrophobic character, these novel compounds may be suitable photosensitizers for the photodynamic therapy of cancer.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Organische und Makromolekulare Chemie, Universität Bremen, Germany.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Michelsen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kliesch
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schnurpfeil
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sobbi
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wöhrle
mesh_terms: D002412:Cations; D004355:Drug Stability; D006834:Hydrazines / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D010777:Photochemistry; D010778:Photochemotherapy; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D015032:Zinc / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D002412:Cations; D006834:Hydrazines; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D015032:Zinc