CHED 1312 |
| Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a cancer treatment used for various types of malignancies and is a minimally invasive alternative to the traditional surgical and chemotherapy treatments. The components of PDT are a photosensitive agent, light, and tissue oxygen. Studies have shown that photosensitive agents absorb light at selective wavelengths and can be activated to chemically change the internal environment of cancer cells causing cell death. The effectiveness of this treatment is dependent upon the absorptive quality of the photosensitive agent. The halogenation of L-phenylalanine using chlorine, iodine, and bromine, has been found to increase absorption of light at 630 nm resulting in these compounds having a higher absorbency than currently used photosensitive agents. The brominated L-phenylalanine was found to have the highest absorbency, indicating that addition of bromine is more effective than chlorine or iodine. Halogenation was accomplished by laser-induced photochemistry of L-phenylalanine. These results were confirmed using UV/Visible spectrometry. |
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Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Medicinal
2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Monday, March 26, 2007 Hyatt Regency Chicago -- Riverside Center, Poster
Division of Chemical Education |