Gold–phosphine–porphyrin as potential metal-based theranostics

concerning the water-soluble analog. Some preliminary photodynamic therapy (PDT) experiments were also per- formed. They highlight a dramatic increase of the cytotox- icity when the cells were illuminated for 30 min with white light. Abstract Two new gold-phosphine-porphyrin deriva- tives were synthesized and fully characterized, and their photophysical properties investigated along a water-solu- ble analog. The cytotoxicity of the compounds was tested on cancer cells (HCT116 and SW480), and their cell uptake was followed by fluorescence microscopy in vitro (on SW480). The proof that the water-soluble gold-phos- phine-porphyrin is a biologically active compound that can be tracked in vitro was clearly established, especially