Design, Synthesis, Characterization and Simulation of Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane Porphyrin Molecules to Fabricate Self-Assembled Nanoparticles And Their Use For Photodynamic Therapy

Supramolecular aggregates can have specific nanostructures that give them a variety of functionalities, making them useful for many applications in energy, catalysis, medicine, biotechnology and other scientific fields. These functional nanostructures are built via the self-assembly of building blocks with particular physicochemical properties. Different molecular interactions participate in the self-assembly processes such as metallic, ionic, van der Waals forces, electrostatic, hydrophobic, H-bonding, and π- π stacking. Therefore, the building blocks for self-assembly are molecules that are pre-designed to supply these interactions in a given environment; in addition, they can provide a desired functionality.
Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) is a promising scaffold to be used as delivery system. When covalently linked to a photosensitizer, POSS has an influence on the self-assembly behavior of the photosensitizer, modifying its properties, potentially enhancing its efficacy toward photodynamic therapy (PDT).
In this Thesis, I describe my work on the study of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) porphyrin derivatives as building blocks, their self-assembly and application in photodynamic therapy (PDT). We envision that the chemical tunability of POSSs can be used as a promising option to improve the delivery and performance of photosensitizers.