SYNTHESES OF NEW BACTERIOCHLORINS AND THEIR ANTITUMOR-ACTIVITY

Purpurin-18 methyl ester la was converted into a series of new bacteri ochlorins 2b, 2c, 2f and 4b. These stable bacteriochlorins have strong long wavelength absorptions in the range of 760 to 816 nm, and were t ested for in vivo photosensitizing activity using the standard screeni ng system of DBA/2 mice bearing transplanted SMT/F tumors. In prelimin ary screening, among the photosensitizers tested so far, bacteriochlor ins 2f and 4b have shown promising anti-tumor activity.