Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-11-2024
Abstract
Heavy-atom-free photosensitizers (HAF-PSs) have emerged as a new class of photosensitizers aiming to broaden their applicability and versatility across various fields of the photodynamic therapy of cancers. The strategy involves replacing the exocyclic oxygen atoms of the carbonyl groups of established biocompatible organic fluorophores with sulfur, thereby bathochromically shifting their absorption spectra and enhancing their intersystem crossing efficiencies. Despite these advancements, the photophysical attributes and electronic relaxation mechanisms of many of these HAF-PSs remain inadequately elucidated. In this study, we investigate the excited state dynamics and photochemical properties of two promising HAF-PSs, thio-coumarin and thio-acridone. Employing a combination of steady-state and time-resolved techniques from femtoseconds to microseconds, coupled with quantum chemical calculations, we unravel the electronic relaxation mechanisms that give rise to the efficient population of long-lived and reactive triplet states in these HAF-PSs.
Language
English
Publication Title
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
Grant
CHE-2246805
Rights
© The Author(s). This is an open access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Recommended Citation
Acquah, C., Hoehn, S., Krul, S., Jockusch, S., Yang, S., Seth, S. K., ... & Crespo-Hernández, C. E. (2024). Electronic relaxation pathways in thio-acridone and thio-coumarin: two heavy-atom-free photosensitizers absorbing visible light. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024,26, 28980-28991
Manuscript Version
Final Publisher Version