Syntheses of biodegradable and biorenewable polylactides initiated by aluminum complexes bearing porphyrin derivatives by the ring-opening polymerization of lactides

The contribution of metalloporphyrin complexes in molecular sensing and in sustainable polymerization processes: a new and unique perspective

This review highlights the recent developments in the field of metalloporphyrins as optical probes for biologically relevant molecules, such as nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and as catalysts for the preparation of sustainable polymers such as polyesters, by the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of cyclic esters and the ring-opening co-polymerization (ROCOP) of epoxides and anhydrides, and polycarbonates by the chemical fixation of carbon dioxide (CO2). The great potential of porphyrins is mainly due to the possibility of making various synthetic modifications to the porphyrin ring, such as modifying the coordinated metal, peripheral substituents, or even the molecular skeleton. Due to the strict structure-property relationships, one can use porphyrinoids in several different applications such as, for instance, activation of molecular oxygen or catalysis of photosynthetic processes. These possibilities broaden the application of porphyrins in several different fields of research, further mimicking what nature does. In this context, here, we want to provide evidence for the great flexibility of metalloporphyrins by presenting an overview of results obtained by us and others in the research fields we are currently involved in. More specifically, we report a survey of our most significant achievements regarding their use as optical probes in the context of the results reported in the literature from other research groups, and of the use of porphyrin metal(iii) complexes as catalysts for sustainable polymerization processes. As for the optical probe section, in addition to the metalloporphyrins synthesized ad hoc in the laboratory, the present work also covers the natural proteins containing a porphyrin core.

New GSH-responsive amphiphilic zinc(II) phthalocyanine micelles as efficient drug carriers for combinatorial cancer therapy

Combination therapies for the treatment of cancer have attracted wide attention. The poor selectivity and biocompatibility of photosensitizers (PS) limit the use of combination therapies in chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cancer. In this work, the Gender PS (mPEG-[Formula: see text]-PLA-S-S-ZnPC), asymmetric zinc(II) phthalocyanine (ZnPC) and mono-methoxy oxygen-based polyethylene glycol-polylactic acid (mPEG-b-PLA) were designed and synthesized for PDT through disulfide bond (-S-S-). The amphipathic PS could be self-assembled into a micelle in aqueous solution, and paclitaxel (PTX) was encapsulated in the core of the micelle for chemotherapy (PTX/mPEG-[Formula: see text]-PLA-S-S-ZnPc). The PTX/mPEG-[Formula: see text]-PLA-S-S-ZnPc micelle was spherical with a uniform diameter of about 184 nm. At the first 48 h, the release behaviors of ZnPC and PTX at 10 mmol / L GSH were 30% and 75.2%, respectively. These results suggested that GSH-responsive PTX/mPEG-[Formula: see text]-PLA-S-S-ZnPc micelle was an active ingredient in combination therapies for cancer.