The Photosensitizer Temoporfin (mTHPC) – Chemical,Pre-clinical and Clinical Developments in the Last Decade†‡

This review follows the research, development and clinical applications of the photosensitizer 5,10,15,20-tetra(m-hydroxyphenyl)chlorin (mTHPC, temoporfin) in photodynamic (cancer) therapy (PDT) and other medical applications. Temoporfin is the active substance in the medicinal product Foscan® authorized in the EU for the palliative treatment of head and neck cancer. Chemistry, biochemistry and pharmacology, as well as clinical and other applications of temoporfin are addressed, including the extensive work that has been done on formulation development including liposomal formulations. The literature has been covered from 2009 to early 2022, thereby connecting it to the previous extensive review on this photosensitizer published in this journal [Senge, M. O. and J. C. Brandt (2011) Photochem. Photobiol. 87, 1240–1296] which followed its way from initial development to approval and clinical application.     

Quantum dynamics through conical intersections in macrosystems: Combining effective modes and time-dependent Hartree

We address the nonadiabatic quantum dynamics of (macro)systems involving a vast number of nuclear degrees of freedom (modes) in the presence of conical intersections. The macrosystem is first decomposed into a system part carrying a few, strongly coupled modes, and an environment, comprising the remaining modes. By successively transforming the modes of the environment, a hierarchy of effective Hamiltonians for the environment can be constructed. Each effective Hamiltonian depends on a reduced number of effective modes, which carry cumulative effects. The environment is described by a few effective modes augmented by a residual environment. In practice, the effective modes can be added to the system’s modes and the quantum dynamics of the entire macrosystem can be accurately calculated on a limited time-interval. For longer times, however, the residual environment plays a role. We investigate the possibility to treat fully quantum mechanically the system plus a few effective environmental modes, augmented by the dynamics of the residual environment treated by the time-dependent Hartree (TDH) approximation. While the TDH approximation is known to fail to correctly reproduce the dynamics in the presence of conical intersections, it is shown that its use on top of the effective-mode formalism leads to much better results. Two numerical examples are presented and discussed; one of them is known to be a critical case for the TDH approximation.     

Gold--an introductory perspective

We introduce the collection of reviews in this thematic issue of Chemical Society Reviews that demonstrate and discuss the current cutting edge research in the field of gold chemistry and materials science as it stands today. We also highlight achievements in the fields of gold catalysis, gold nanoparticles and the preparative, structural and theoretical chemistry of gold, and discuss the remaining challenges and opportunities. Our aim is to inspire further discovery in these new and deeply fascinating fields.     

Preparation of 2,4-disubstituted cyclopentenones by enantioselective iridium-catalyzed allylic alkylation: synthesis of 2'-methylcarbovir and TEI-9826

A broadly applicable synthesis of chiral 2- or 2,4-substituted cyclopent-2-enones has been developed by combining asymmetric iridium-catalyzed allylic alkylation reactions and ruthenium-catalyzed ring-closing metathesis. Enantiomeric excesses (ee values) in the range of 95-99 % ee have been achieved. This method offers a straightforward access to biologically active prostaglandins of the PGA type. As an example, an enantioselective synthesis of the prostaglandin-analogue 13,14-dihydro-15-deoxy-Delta(7)-prostaglandin-A1-methyl ester (TEI-9826) has been carried out. Furthermore, the carbonucleoside 2'-methylcarbovir has been prepared from O-protected 4-hydroxymethyl-2-methyl-cyclopent-2-enone by Pd-catalyzed allylic amination.     

Synthetic strategies and porphyrin building blocks for unsymmetrical multichromophores

A sequential use of halogenation, S_NAr, Sonogashira and/or Suzuki couplings together with the use of either mono-5-, 5,15- or 5,10-di-meso-substituted porphyrins allows the facile construction of unsymmetrical porphyrin dimers and trimers with different spatial orientation. The protocols established allow a convenient entry into multichromophores suitable for application in nonlinear optics and biomedicine.     

Effects of intermolecular interaction on inelastic electron tunneling spectra

We have examined the effects of intermolecular interactions on the inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS) of model systems: a pair of benzenethiol or a pair of benzenedithiol sandwiched between gold electrodes. The dependence of the IETS on the mutual position of and distance between the paired molecules has been predicted and discussed in detailed. It is shown that, although in most cases, there are clear spectral fingerprints present which allow identification of the actual structures of the molecules inside the junction. Caution must be exercised since some characteristic lines can disappear at certain symmetries. The importance of theoretical simulation is emphasized.