Introduction:

Phthalocyanines are porphyrin-based dyes. They have plenty applications in different fields, including biomedical and chemical research. From a chemical point of view, Phthalocyanines are macrocyclictetraaza compounds, which mainly are made up of isoindol groups that confer aromaticity and planarity on Phthalocyanine structure. Unlike other kinds of porphyrin compounds, Phthalocyanine structure is able to chelate a lot of metals, which more often contribute to their huge variety of functions, including ROS generation, fluorescence, absorption spectra, and others.

Aim:

To evaluate phthalocyanines compounds owing their excellent photochemical and pharmaceutical properties that explain their wide use at the clinical and medical level.

Methodology:

We have carried out a meticulous search for scientific works related to the subject between April 2020 and April 2021, the most of them were written in English. As a result, we can say that, for studying Phthalocyanines' properties, the work can be separated into two issues: synthesis of the metalized phthalocyanines and photochemical and photobiological properties.

Results:

Phthalocyanines have plenty properties that are desirable to biomedical and pharmaceutical research. Because of their photochemical and photobiological properties, as well as ROS generation, Phthalocyanines are one of the photosenstitizers most widely used in photodynamic therapy. They also have antibacterial, antiviral and anticancer activities. In this sense, Phthalocyanine synthesis and in vitro studies are a very important scientific issue.