Facile Synthesis of a Cubic Porphyrin-Based Covalent Organic Framework for Combined Breast Cancer Therapy

A cubic porphyrin-based covalent organic framework (COF) named CTP with excellent hydrophilicity was prepared with a facile method for the first time. Different from the conventional methods for the synthesis of porphyrin-based COFs, this facile strategy has greatly shortened the reaction time under mild conditions. Linking the porphyrin monomer into the COF overcame its poor solubility and biocompatibility and also narrowed the band gap owing to the formation of the pi-conjugation structure. The improved biocompatibility and narrowed band gap enabled CTP to be an excellent sonosensitizer with an enhanced sonodynamic effect. Moreover, CTP could also effectively realize photothermal conversion under external irradiation due to the extended conjugated structure. This work developed a novel synthesis method for COFs and employed a COF as a sonosensitizer for the first time, which not only provided a new strategy to improve the efficiency of organic sonosensitizers but also inspired us to design more functional COFs for versatile applications.

Automated summary

In this research, a cubic porphyrin-based COF named CTP with excellent hydrophilicity was prepared for the first time using a simple method. By linking the porphyrin monomer into the COF, solubility and biocompatibility issues were overcome, and the band gap was narrowed. The resulting CTP showed enhanced sonodynamic effect and photothermal conversion under external irradiation.