Carbohydrate-conjugated porphyrin dimers: Synthesis and photobiological evaluation for a potential application in one-photon and two-photon photodynamic therapy

We report the synthesis of bioconjugated zinc porphyrin dimers 1a–e designed as photosensitizers for one-photon and two-photon excited photodynamic therapy. These macrocycles are substituted with carbohydrate units (glucose, mannose, lactose) in order to target tumor cells over-expressing lectin membrane receptors. Polarity, singlet oxygen production and in vitro photocytotoxicity are studied to determine their photodynamic therapy potentiality.

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