Synthesis and Application of New Selanylfullerene Derivatives as Photosensitizers for Photodynamic Therapy

This study aims to describe the synthesis of a new class of selanylfullerene derivatives in a convergent strategy route, affording the desired products in a few steps and in good yields. C60 compounds were evaluated as photosensitizers to be used in photodynamic therapy (PDT) via the generation of singlet oxygen (1O2), using the chemical trapping method. The photooxidation of the chemical probe1,3‐diphenylisobenzofuran (DPBF) sensitized by selanylfullerenes followed a first‐order kinetic and the values of singlet oxygen quantum yields (ΦΔ) are appropriate for its use in PDT. The electronic absorption spectra, and the intersystem crossing tax rates for the most prominent synthesized compounds were calculated using the density functional theory and the Marcus electron transfer theory, with the theoretical results confirming the experimental findings. In this article, the synthesis of a new sallanylfullerene derivative is disclosed. The compounds were effective for generating oxygen singlets, appearing to be a prominent new class of photosensitizing organochalcogen nanostructures.