Porphycenes as broad-spectrum antimicrobial photosensitizers. Potentiation with potassium iodide

Two novel meso-tetrasubstituted porphycenes (Pc-Cbz and Pc-NEt2) have been synthesized by palladium-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling reactions over 9,10,19,20-tetrakis(4-iodophenyl)porphycene. Pc-Cbz contains four carbazole groups on the periphery of the tetrapyrrolic macrocycle. Instead, Pc-NEt2 presents four basic tertiary amine substituents, which can be protonated at physiological pH, acquiring four positive charges. Both photosensitizers (PSs) were designed to evaluate the effect of different substitution patterns on the photodynamic inactivation of microorganisms. Their absorption and fluorescence properties were almost unmodified regardless of the substituent groups on the periphery. The characteristic red emission makes them promising fluorescent probes for cell imaging. Moreover, both macrocycles were able to generate reactive oxygen species by both photodynamic mechanisms under aerobic light irradiation. The photokilling action of these PSs was assessed in vitro against Candida albicans (yeast), Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive bacterium), and Escherichia coli (Gram-negative bacterium). Our results demonstrate that the peripheral substitution significantly affected the photoinactivation performance. Thus, Pc-NEt2 was more effective than Pc-Cbz in killing microorganisms using lower concentrations and shorter irradiation periods, evidencing that external substitution is a main structural feature. Also, the photoinactivation efficiency mediated by these porphycenes was potentiated by adding KI. Under these conditions, a complete eradication of all pathogenic microorganisms was obtained by combining Pc-NEt2 and KI. Therefore, Pc-NEt2 can be used as an effective broad-spectrum antimicrobial PS. Accordingly, this work stands out as a promising starting point for the design of new porphycene-based PSs for photodynamic inactivation (PDI) of microorganisms. Our outcomes also disclose that the combination of these PSs with KI is an important factor in order to improve the PDI treatments and the current antimicrobial therapies.