Pyridinium-substituted tetraphenylethylene salt-based photosensitizers by varying counter anions: a highly efficient photodynamic therapy for cancer cell ablation and bacterial inactivation.

Cancer and bacterial infection seriously threaten the health of human beings. The development of an image-guided photosensitizer with a "Two-in-One" function that can be simultaneously used for both efficient cancer cell ablation and rapid bacterial inactivation is highly in demand. In this project, we designed and prepared two aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) (called TPEPy-I and TPEPy-PF6) with a strong electron push-pull effect. They have a near-infrared (NIR) emission, a high 1O2 quantum yield up to 0.93 and a fluorescence turn-on effect in mitochondria. Upon white light irradiation, the two mitochondria-targeting AIEgens exhibit a highly efficient photodynamic ablation of HeLa cells as well as excellent photodynamic inactivation of both Gram-positive S. aureus and Gram-negative E. coli. The time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) results indicate that compared to TPEPy-PF6, TPEPy-I can easily produce the triplet state that is a prerequisite for 1O2 formation. Moreover, the positive effect of iodide anions gives TPEPy-I a higher photodynamic efficacy in cancer cell ablation and bacterial inactivation as compared with TPEPy-PF6.

Supramolecular Radical Anions Triggered by Bacteria In†Situ for Selective Photothermal Therapy.

A supramolecular complex that can be selectively reduced to radical anions in situ by facultative anaerobic bacteria is reported. To this end, a water-soluble bifunctional monomer bearing perylene diimide was synthesized, and its supramolecular complex with cucurbit[7]uril was fabricated on the basis of host-guest complexation, which could be reduced to forming radical anions in the presence of E. coli. It was found that this supramolecular complex could display different ability of generating radical anions by facultative anaerobic and aerobic bacteria in terms of their various reductive abilities. The selective antibacterial activity of the supramolecular complex could be realized by the photothermal performance of the radical anions under near-infrared irradiation. It is anticipated that this method may lead to a novel bacteria-responsive photothermal therapy to regulate balance of bacterial flora.

Synthesis of 1,2,3-tripnictolide anions by reaction of group 15 Zintl ions with acetylene. Isolation of [E3C2H2](-) (E = P, As) and preliminary reactivity studies.

Dimethylformamide solutions of K(3)E(7) (E = P, As) react with acetylene yielding the 1,2,3-tripnictolide anions [E(3)C(2)H(2)](-) (R = P (1), As (2)). Preliminary studies have shown that 1 and 2 displace labile ligands in [Ru(COD){η(3)-CH(3)C(CH(2))(2)}(2)] (COD = 1,5-cyclooctadiene) to yield the novel complexes [Ru(η(5)-E(3)C(2)H(2)){CH(3)C(CH(2))(2)}(2)}](-) (E = P (3), As (4)).

Polymeric organometallic architectures of novel P-Se anions.

The characterisation of a series of compounds obtained from Woollins' reagent (W.R.) offers a novel approach to organometallic coordination polymers. The syntheses were achieved by nucleophilic ring-opening reactions of W.R. with metal salts and crystallisation using solvent-diffusion techniques. One-dimensional coordination polymers are formed as a result, and we demonstrate that the dimensionality of the polymers can be influenced by using hydrated metal salts or by the construction of heterometallic arrangements.