Glucose‐Modified Porphyrins With Superior Photostability for Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy

As one of the three major biomolecules, glucose and its modified derivatives exhibit strong cell specificity for cancer cells. Four glucose‐modified porphyrin compounds (Glu‐P, Glu‐ZnP, Glu‐InP, and Glu‐CuP) were synthesized. Among these, Glu‐P demonstrates excellent photostability, while Glu‐ZnP exhibits the highest photophysical activity. In vitro anti‐tumor experiments show that Glu‐P has remarkable phototoxicity against cancer cells (HepG2, A549, and H‐1975). Additionally, due to the specific targeting ability of porphyrin, it shows good biocompatibility with HS578Bst normal cells. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that Glu‐InP also exhibits good photophysical activity. However, Glu‐P outperforms it due to its superior photostability. With excellent photostability and a high singlet oxygen production rate, Glu‐P presents a promising candidate for photodynamic therapy. These findings provide new insights for the development of effective metal‐based anticancer photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy.