Water-soluble hybrid materials based on {Mo6X8}4+ (X = Cl, Br, I) cluster complexes and sodium polystyrene sulfonate

The development of water-soluble forms of octahedral molybdenum clusters {Mo6X8}(4+) (X = Cl, Br, I) is strongly motivated by the tremendous potential that these complexes have for biological applications, namely as agents for bioimaging and photodynamic therapy. In this work, we report the first water-soluble hybrid materials, which represent sodium polystyrene sulfonate doped by molybdenum clusters, and the evaluation of their photophysical and biological properties (dark and photoinduced cytotoxicity and cellular uptake) with the use of cervical cancer (HeLa) and human epidermoid larynx carcinoma (Hep-2) cell-lines as models.