Design, synthesis, and evaluation of 5,15-diaryltetranaphtho [2,3]porphyrins as photosensitizers in real-time photodynamic therapy and photodiagnosis

In the pursuit of new potent photosensitizers (PSs) for photodynamic therapy (PDT) with better efficacy, a series of 5,15-diaryltetranaphtho (Otvagin et al., 2022; Pham et al., 2021) [2,3]porphyrins (Ar2TNPs) with two or four carboxyalkoxy groups were designed, synthesized, and evaluated. These new compounds exhibited strong, broad and red-shifted UV–vis absorptions at 729 nm and other strong absorptions at 446, 475, 650, 659, 714 nm for tumors and other diseases of varying sizes and depths. They possess high molar extinction coefficients (0.95 × 105–1.48 × 105 M−1 cm−1), good singlet oxygen quantum yields and photodynamic antitumor effects towards Eca-109 cells in vitro. It is suggested that the extension of porphyrin with naphthalene into Ar2TNP results into remarkable improvement of photophysical characteristics, while the introduction of carboxyalkoxy groups on meso-phenyl can significantly improve the solubility and photodynamic effects in vitro and in vivo. Notably, compound II3 can localize primarily in lysosomes of Eca-109 cells and induce substantial cell apoptosis after PDT. It can also selectively accumulate in tumor tissues and be traced real-timely through in vivo fluorescence imaging with distinctive inhibition of tumor growth. Therefore, compound II3 deserves to be considered as a promising PDT drug candidate for individualized tumor real-time tracing and treatment.