Ir(III) Complex Dimer Nanoparticles for Photodynamic Therapy

Yingjie Liu; Dongxia Zhu; Zhigang Xie

doi:10.1021/acsmedchemlett.1c00362

Ir(III) Complex Dimer Nanoparticles for Photodynamic Therapy

ACS Med Chem Lett. 2021 Aug 6;12(9):1374-1379. doi: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.1c00362. eCollection 2021 Sep 9.

Authors

Yingjie Liu^{1

2}, Dongxia Zhu³, Zhigang Xie^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun130022, P.R. China.
² University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei230026, P. R. China.
³ Key Laboratory of Nanobiosensing and Nanobioanalysis at Universities of Jilin Province, Department of Chemistry, Northeast Normal University, 5268 Renmin Street, Changchun, Jilin Province130024, P. R. China.

Abstract

Iridium compounds are versatile in catalysis and photodynamic therapy. We present two Ir(III) complex dimers that can self-assemble into nanoparticles in the absence of adjuvant or surfactants. The formed nanoparticles possess a spherical morphology and robust colloidal stability and could be internalized by cancer cells. The Ir(III) complex nanoparticles have relatively strong photodynamic activity upon irradiation, which includes type I and type II reactive oxygen species. The generated reactive oxygen species could effectively induce cell death upon irradiation. This work highlights the potential of metal complexes and their nanoparticles in cancer treatment.