Chemistry Letters, Vol.46, No.12, 1754-1756, 2017
Structurally Simple Cell-permeable Porphyrins: Efficient Cellular Uptake and Phototoxicity of Porphyrins with Four Peripheral Primary-amine-terminated Oligo(ethylene oxide) Chains
A series of meso-tetraphenylporphyrins bearing four primary-amine-terminated oligo(ethylene oxide) chains have been synthesized from meso-tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin. All the porphyrins with different lengths of oligo(ethylene oxide) chains accumulate in cells more efficiently than meso-tetrakis(N-methylpyridinium-4-yl) porphyrin, TMPyP. The porphyrin having the shortest ethylene oxide chains was found to accumulate the most within cells among the series, and exhibit phototoxicity under red light irradiation.