Citation: Hua Gu, Juan Zhang, Puan Yuan, Zhongyue Zheng, Wenkai Liu, Xiang Xia, Wen Sun, Jianjun Du, Jiangli Fan, Xiaojun Peng. Conjugated di-Cy5.5 derivative achieving strong light-harvesting ability beyond 808 nm for high-efficient antitumor photodynamic therapy[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(4): 111119. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111119 shu

Conjugated di-Cy5.5 derivative achieving strong light-harvesting ability beyond 808 nm for high-efficient antitumor photodynamic therapy

Hua Gu ^{a, b} ,
Juan Zhang ^a ,
Puan Yuan ^b ,
Zhongyue Zheng ^b ,
Wenkai Liu ^b ,
Xiang Xia ^{a, b} ,
Wen Sun ^{a, b} ,
Jianjun Du ^{a, b, *,} ,
Jiangli Fan ^{a, b, *,} ,
Xiaojun Peng ^b

a.
Ningbo Institute of Dalian University of Technology, Ningbo 315016, China
b.
State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Frontier Science Center for Smart Materials, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China

dujj@dlut.edu.cn

fanjl@dlut.edu.cn

Received Date: 14 January 2025
Revised Date: 17 March 2025
Accepted Date: 19 March 2025
Available Online: 20 March 2025

Figures(5)

The performance of photosensitizers determines the effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT). At present, most photosensitizers are developed from fluorescent dyes, but it is difficult to possess both the good photophysical properties and photosensitive efficiency. In this work, an efficient strategy was developed to construct a cyanine-based near infrared (NIR) photosensitizer, 2LBCy5.5, with an enlarged and twisted D-π-A-π-D structure by connecting two classical Cy5.5 dyes smartly with a dual-cationic benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dipyrrole group. The 2LBCy5.5 exhibited a maximum absorption at 802 nm with a great molar extinction coefficient of 4.2 × 10⁵ L mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹, compared with its parent Cy5.5 (692 nm with a molar extinction coefficient of 2.5 × 10⁵ L mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹). Furthermore, 2LBCy5.5 exhibited narrow energy gap of singlet-triplet (ΔE_S-T) accelerated the intersystem crossing process (1.21 ns⁻¹) with a high triplet-excited-state quantum yield (26.1%) under 808 nm excitation, greatly contributing to reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in type-Ⅰ PDT. The excellent anti-tumor ability of 2LBCy5.5 was realized both under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. This study provides an effective and powerful approach for designing cyanine photosensitizers with strong capabilities in both photophysical properties (e.g., NIR light-harvesting) and highly antitumor efficiency.
- Conjugated di-Cy5.5,
- NIR photosensitizer,
- Excited state regulation,
- Triplet-state quantum yields,
- Light harvesting,
- Photodynamic therapy
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