Biomedical Applications

Our activity in biomedical applications originates from a collaborative line of research with colleagues from the CIBA (Centro de Investigación Biomédica de Aragón) at the University of Zaragoza, focused on the exploration of antimicrobial properties in photoactive molecular systems. This work has led to the identification of new chemical scaffolds with biological activity within families of π-conjugated compounds originally developed for optoelectronic applications.

In this context, 4H-pyran-4-ylidene derivatives have been identified as a new class of compounds exhibiting antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria, including resistant strains. These systems display bactericidal behaviour and low cytotoxicity in mammalian cells, highlighting their potential as promising antimicrobial agents .

Building on these results, our research is expanding towards the study of photoactive compounds under photochemical conditions relevant to biological environments, particularly in the context of photodynamic therapy (PDT), where light activation leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species such as singlet oxygen .

This approach is based on the design of π-conjugated D–π–A systems with tunable electronic structure, including 4H-pyranylidene and π-extended acceptor frameworks such as diketopyrrolopyrrole derivatives. Current efforts are oriented towards antifungal applications, evaluating these systems under controlled irradiation conditions in aqueous media, together with their photochemical stability and biological response.

Overall, this emerging research line represents a natural extension of our work on photoactive molecular systems towards light-activated antimicrobial strategies.