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Updated: Jan 22, 2026

Synthesis of a Water-soluble Metal–Organic Complex Array
Published on: October 8, 2016
New Designs for Phototherapeutic Transition Metal Complexes
Cinzia Imberti1, Pingyu Zhang2,1, Huaiyi Huang3,1
1Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK.
None:
In this Minireview, we highlight recent advances in the design of transition metal complexes for photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT), and discuss the challenges and opportunities for the translation of such agents into clinical use. New designs for light-activated transition metal complexes offer photoactivatable prodrugs with novel targeted mechanisms of action. Light irradiation can provide spatial and temporal control of drug activation, increasing selectivity and reducing side-effects. The photophysical and photochemical properties of transition metal complexes can be controlled by the appropriate choice of the metal, its oxidation state, the number and types of ligands, and the coordination geometry.
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