Design Guidelines For Conjugated Polymers With Light‐Activated Anticancer Activity

Abstract

Multifunctional materials that simultaneously provide therapeutic action and image the results provide new strategies for the treatment of various diseases. Here, it is shown that water soluble conjugated polymers with a molecular design centered on the polythiophene−porphyrin dyad are effective for killing neighboring cells. Following photoexcitation, energy is efficiently transferred from the polythiophene backbone to the porphyrin units, which readily produce singlet oxygen (1O2) that is toxic for the cells. Due to the light‐harvesting ability of the electronically delocalized backbone and the efficient energy transfer amongst optical partners, the polythiophene−porphyrin dyad shows a higher 1O2 generation efficiency than a small molecule analog. The fluorescent properties of these polymers can also serve to distinguish amongst living and dead cells. Polymers can be designed with folic acid grafted onto the polymer side chain that can specifically kill folate receptor‐overexpressed cells, thereby providing an important demonstration of anticancer specificity through molecular design.

A graphene quantum dot photodynamic therapy agent with high singlet oxygen generation

“…As illustrated in Fig. 2e, in the presence of GQDs or RB under irradiation with white light, the absorbance of the Na 2 -ADPA solution at 378 nm, decreased gradually with prolonged irradiation time, indicating the degradation of Na 2 -ADPA by 1 O 2 generated by GQDs and RB37. Nevertheless, the degradation rate of Na 2 -ADPA resulting from the GQDs was far larger than that from the RB.…”

Synthesis and Characterization of Water-Soluble Polythiophene Derivatives for Cell Imaging

“…All organic solvents were purchased from Beijing Chemical Works and used as received. Compound 1 , 7 and 8 were synthesized according to procedures reported in the literatures35363738. PT was synthesized using previously reported procedures36 and a further anion exchange procedure.…”

“…Oxidative polymerization catalyzed by FeCl 3 is one of the favored methods among the aforementioned synthetic methods to afford WSPTs because of the ease of this reaction. In fact, WSPTs synthesized using such method have been studied extensively for biological applications313435. WSPTs with novel properties could be achieved by facile polymerization of functionalized thiophene monomers or simple modification with active substituents on the side chains of the polymers.…”

Synthesis and Characterization of Oligofluorene Nanoparticles for Cell Imaging

“…[51] The size of these nanoparticles is in the appropriate range for improved cell uptake. [52,53] The optical properties of OF were measured in both chloroform and water (Figure 2a). In chloroform, OF exhibits absorption maximum at 362 nm with a molar absorption coefficient of 1.…”