Unsymmetrical β-cyclodextrin-conjugated silicon(iv) phthalocyanines as highly potent photosensitisers for photodynamic therapy

Abstract

A series of unsymmetrical silicon(IV) phthalocyanines with a permethylated β-cyclodextrin unit and a sugar or a diamino moiety as the axial substituents have been prepared. These compounds are highly photocytotoxic with IC(50) values as low as 21 nM, which is ca. sevenfold lower than those of the symmetrical bis(cyclodextrin) analogue.