Modifying and Taming Photoactive Compounds Using Synthetic Macrocycles as Supramolecular Hosts

Abstract

AbstractPhotoactives have a wide variety of applications that can benefit human health including the prevention of melanoma and in photodynamic therapy. However, they have also been implicated in potential adverse impacts on the aquatic environment. Hence, several efforts have been made to either synthesize or to modulate properties of existing photoactives. Supramolecular modification is one of the ways in which photoactives are complexed with macrocycles to yield unique physical and chemical properties. Confined cavities of macrocycles have the potential to alter the life span of photoactive intermediates and thereby their applications. In this review, we have discussed the complexation of photoactives within select macrocycles, including calixarenes, curcurbit[n]urils, cyclodextrins, bis‐urea and octa‐acid. The comprehensive review gives an overview of how self‐assembly through non‐covalent interactions have enabled formation of inclusion complexes with improved photo stability and reduced phototoxicity. It also discusses how this technology may be leveraged in the future to counter the possible negative effects of photoactives.