One-Pot Synthetic Approach toward Porphyrinatozinc and Heavy-Atom Involved Zr-NMOF and Its Application in Photodynamic Therapy

Herein, we report an iodine-attached Zn­(II)-porphyrinic dicarboxylic building block (ZnDTPP-I₂-2H, <b>1</b>) that can be introduced into UiO-66 NMOF via one-pot synthetic approach to generate a new ZnDTPP-I₂ doped UiO-66 type nano metal–organic framework (NMOF) of ZnDTPP-I₂⊂UiO-66 (<b>2</b>). Compared to its homologous iodine-free NMOF of ZnDTPP⊂UiO-66 (<b>4</b>), ZnDTPP-I₂⊂UiO-66 (<b>2</b>) with heavy iodine atoms is a more effective nanosized photosensitizer for singlet oxygen generation under physiological conditions. As expected, <b>2</b> displayed a high photodynamic therapy efficacy for treatment of liver cancer cells in vitro