GaIIItriarylcorroles with push–pull substitutions: synthesis, electronic structure and biomedical applications

Two A2B type H3corroles and two GaIIItriarylcorroles with carbazole substitutions at 10-positions were synthesized and characterized. An analysis of structure–property relationships of the corroles has been carried out by investigating the optical spectroscopy of the dyes to trends predicted in DFT and TD-DFT calculations. Interestingly, the photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) activity properties of the GaIIItriarylcorroles were determined against the MCF-7 breast cancer line, and Staphyloccocus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli), respectively. The cationic G-2Q species exhibited the most favorable properties with an IC50 value of 7.8 μM against MCF-7 cells, and Log reduction values of 7.78 and 3.26 against planktonic S. aureus and E. coli at 0.5 and 10 μM, respectively.