Focus Article

Primary photophysical and photochemical processes in promising light-activated anticancer complexes of platinum, ruthenium and rhodium

E. M. Glebov^a, V. A. Meshcheryakova^ab, A. A. Melnikov<sup>c

a</sup> V. V. Voevodsky Institute of Chemical Kinetics and Combustion, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russian Federation
^b Novosibirsk State University, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russian Federation
^c Institute of Spectroscopy, Russian Academy of Sciences, 108840 Troitsk, Moscow, Russian Federation

Abstract: Platinum group metal complexes are considered promising prodrugs for photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT), which is being developed as an oxygen-independent variant of photodynamic therapy (PDT) for malignant tumors. Primary photophysical and photochemical processes involving light-activated anticancer complexes of platinum, ruthenium and rhodium on timescales from hundreds of femtoseconds to hours are reviewed.

Keywords: photodynamic therapy, photoactivated chemotherapy, platinum complexes, ruthenium complexes, rhodium complexes, photophysics, photochemistry, primary processes, laser flash photolysis, ultrafast spectroscopy

Received: 19.05.2025
Accepted: 11.09.2025

Language: English

DOI: 10.71267/mencom.7831