A hexanuclear Iridium(III) cluster for histidine-induced singlet oxygen and superoxide radicals generation

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Photosensitizers (PSs) play key roles in photodynamic therapy (PDT). PDT is typically reliant on the local concentration of oxygen. A big challenge for PSs is to develop oxygen-independent photosensitizers, which can work well in hypoxic tumor microenvironment. In this piece of work, a hexanuclear Ir(III) cluster (Ir6) is highly selective towards histidine and histidine-rich (His-rich) proteins to form mononuclear Ir(III) complexes of [Ir(bpy)2(His)]. After the selective response to histidine or his-rich proteins, [Ir(bpy)2(His)] generates both singlet oxygen(1O2) and superoxide (O2−). This work opens an avenue for the potential application of Ir6 for type Ι and ΙΙ synergic photodynamic therapy.