Glyco-Porphyrins and -Phthalocyanines for Cancer Photodynamic Therapy

Abstract

Porphyrins (Pors) and carbohydrates (CH) are two families of natural compounds those are vital to our life. From the combination of both groups, many glyco-porphyrinoids have been synthesized and studied as photosensitizers (PSs) in cancer photodynamic therapy (PDT) with extremely success. PDT combines a PS, visible light at a specific wavelength, and molecular oxygen to produce cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) to kill cancer cells. In this communication, it will be highlighted some of our recent works, presenting the used synthetic strategies and some of the obtained photo-physical, -chemical and –biological results in the indicated field.