Unsymmetrically substituted benzonaphthoporphyrazines: a new class of cationic photosensitizers for the photodynamic therapy of cancer.

Unsymmetrical zinc(II) complexes of benzonaphthoporphyrazines 5a-12a bearing between one and eight pyridyloxy substituents are synthesized by statistical tetramerization of 6-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-2,3-naphthalenedicarbonitrile (1) with 4-(3-pyridyloxy)- or 4,5-bis-(3-pyridyloxy)-1,2-benzenedicarbonitrile (2, 3). Methylation of 5a-12a leads to the catianic pyridyloxybenzonaphthoporphyrazines 5b-12b having between one to eight positive charges. The Q-band transition in the visible spectra exhibits a bathochromic shift from 680 to 760 nm dependent upon the number of annelated naphthalene rings.

Tetraamido-substituted 2,3-naphthalocyanine zinc(II) complexes as phototherapeutic agents: synthesis, comparative photochemical and photobiological studies.

The aim of this study is to report the synthesis and photochemical and phototherapeutic activities of tetraamido-substituted 2,3-naphthalocyanine zinc(II) complexes (ZnNcs 5-8). Four naphthalocyanine complexes, tetrabenzamido- (ZnNc 5), tetramethoxybenzamido- (ZnNc 6), tetrahexylamido- (ZnNc 7) and tetradodecylamido- (ZnNc 8) naphthalocyanine zinc complexes absorbing at around 770 nm were synthesized. The dye-sensitized photo-oxidation of 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran via 1O2 was studied in more detail in order to compare the quantum yields of these different sensitizers.