Bao C, Zhu L, Lin Q, Tian H. Building biomedical materials using photochemical bond cleavage.
ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2015;
27:1647-62. [PMID:
25655424 DOI:
10.1002/adma.201403783]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2014] [Revised: 12/02/2014] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Light can be used as an external trigger to precisely determine where and when a process is initiated as well as how much of the process is being consumed. Phototriggers are a type of photoresponsive functional group that undergo an irreversible photolysis reaction by selectively breaking a chemical bond, enabling three fundamental functions: the photoactivation of fluorescent and bioactive molecules; the photocleavable degradation of macromolecular materials; and the photorelease of drugs, active groups, or surface charges from carriers and interfaces. With the expanded applications of light-controlled technology, particularly in living systems, new challenges and improvements of phototriggers are required to fulfill the demands for better sensitivity, faster kinetics, and more-demanding biomedical applications. Here, improvements to several conventional phototriggers are highlighted, and their notable, representative biomedical applications and their challenges are discussed.
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