Beilstein Talk on ROS generation by photoexcited fullerenes

Since the discovery of C₆₀ in 1985, photoinduced reactions by fullerenes have been studied since the early 1990’s.  Important properties of fullerenes as photosensitizers (PSs) include excitation wavelength in the relatively long wavelength region and efficient generation of ROSs. Coupled with the lack of reported toxicity of C₆₀ in the dark in mammalians, these properties render fullerenes suitable for photodynamic therapy (PDT)-PS. To use C₆₀ in biological systems, several approached have been developed to prepare water-soluble complex or derivatives. In this study, 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of C₆₀, C₇₀ and M₃N@C₈₀ for the preparation of water-soluble fullerene derivatives and their use for ROS generation, as well as applications of these systems will be discussed.