Sundararaman Venkatraman

Porphyrins in photodynamic therapy - a search for ideal photosensitizers

The utility of light as a therapeutic agent can be traced back over thousands of years when it was used in Ancient Egypt, India and China to treat a variety of skin diseases like psoriasis, vitiligo, rickets, cancer and psychosis. The isolation of porphyrins and their inherent tumor localizing properties coupled with its ability to generate reactive singlet oxygen when activated by light of particular wavelength which in turn results in cytotoxicity led to the emergence of a new modality namely, photodynamic therapy (PDT) as a therapeutic tool. The higher degree of selectivity offered by this modality and fewer side effects when compared to chemotherapy and radiotherapy has prompted the researchers around the globe to generate new photosensitizers. Porphyrins and expanded porphyrins are one class of molecules under intense investigation due to their photosensitizing ability for PDT application. Expanded porphyrins result from the expansion of the phi electron conjugation by increasing the number of heterocyclic rings or bridging carbons of the existing porphyrin framework. These chromophores show strong absorptions in the red region (650-800 nm) compared to that of normal 18phi porphyrins. The strong absorption of light by a water soluble nontoxic photosensitizing molecule in the therapeutic window resulting in maximum penetration of light into the tissues coupled with high singlet oxygen production will conceptualize an ideal photosensitizer. This review highlights various porphyrinoid sensitizers reported till date and their photosensitizing ability both in vitro and in vivo studies. Furthermore, the urgent need for developing ideal photosensitizer for PDT will also be highlighted.

First structural characterization of core modified 10,15-meso aryl azuliporphyrins: observation of C-H...π interaction between pyrrole β-CH and mesityl ring

First successful syntheses and structural characterization of new core modified meso aryl azuliporphyrins by a simple [3 + 1] methodology are reported.

Characterization of a new meso-aryl rubyrin isomer: [26]hexaphyrin (1.1.1.0.1.0) with an inverted heterocyclic ring

The synthesis and characterization of new aromatic 26π macrocycles obtained from the acid catalyzed 4+3 coupling reaction of core modified tripyrrane and tetrapyrrane are described.

Inverted porphyrins and expanded porphyrins: An overview

Porphyrins and metallopophyrins have attracted the attention of chemists for the past 100 years or more owing to their widespread involvement in biology. More recently, synthetic porphyrins and porphyrin-like macrocycles have attracted the attention of researchers due to their diverse applications as sensitizers for photodynamic therapy, MRI contrasting agents, and complexing agents for larger metal ions and also for their anion binding abilities. The number of π-electrons in the porphyrin ring can be increased either by increasing the numberof conjugated double bonds between the pyrrole rings or by increasing the number of heterocyclic rings. Thus, 22π sapphyrins, 26π rubyrins, 30π heptaphyrins, 34π octaphyrins and higher cyclic polypyrrole analogues containing 40π, 48π, 64π, 80π and 96π systems have recently been reported in the literature. These macrocycles show rich structural diversity where normal and different kinds of inverted structures have been identified. In this review, an attempt has been made to collect the literature of the inverted porphyrins and expanded porphyrins reported until December 2001. Since themeso aryl expanded porphyrins have tendency to form both inverted and non-inverted structures more emphasis has been given tomeso aryl expanded porphyrins.

Heptaphyrins: Expanded porphyrins with seven heterocyclic rings

Expanded porphyrins containing seven pyrrole/heterocyclic rings linked in a cyclic fashion are termed heptaphyrins. The number ofπ-electrons in heptaphyrins depends on the number ofmeso carbon bridges used to link the heterocyclic rings, accordingly heptaphyrins with 28π-electrons and 30π-electrons are reported to date. Both condensation reactions of the appropriate precursors and acid-catalysed oxidative coupling reactions have been utilized to synthesise the heptaphyrins. The 30π heptaphyrins exhibit rich structural diversity where some of the heterocyclic rings in the macrocycle undergo a 180° ring flipping. An overview of the synthetic methods employed for the synthesis of heptaphyrins, their spectroscopic properties, structural behaviour and aromatic properties are highlighted in this paper.

Supramolecular Assemblies of Sulfur- and Selenium- Containing Expanded Porphyrins Mediated Through Noncovalent Interactions

Abstract Various supramolecular assemblies based on expanded porphyrins building blocks containing sulfur and/or selenium in the core, formed through multiple non-covalent hydrogen bonding interactions are highlighted. Specifically, modified expanded porphyrins such as 22 π sapphyrins, 26 π rubyrins, and 34 π octaphyrins self assemble in solid state through C–H…O, C–H…N, C–H…S, C–H…Se, C–H…π, and C–H…Cl interactions to form dimeric, oligomeric, and three dimensional networks. Furthermore, the supramolecular networks promoted by trapped solvent molecules such as nitrobenzene and bound anions such as chloride or trifluoroacetate through noncovalent interactions will be discussed.

Meso-mesityl dithia- and diselenarubyrins: existence of planar and inverted forms in solution

Syntheses, characterization and spectroscopic studies of meso-mesityl substituted rubyrins are reported. Specifically, it has been shown that these rubyrins behave differently from the meso-phenyl containing rubyrins in their structure. 1H NMR studies reveal the existence of both planar and inverted isomers in solution in different ratios both in the freebase and protonated forms.