Radiation induces a variety of chemical processes in biological tissues. This volume is a synthesis of up-to-the-minute reviews on such photochemical and photobiological sensitized reactions with particular relevance to photomedicine. The first part gives a description of experimental techniques for the study of the primary processes after radiation absorption by biological systems. It is followed by chapters on singlet oxygen and photomedicine, considering both phototherapy and photochemotherapy. These sections also discuss the next generation of potential photosensitizing drugs.

Photosensitization of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines covers the scentific background to porphyrins and phthalocyanines, and applications of the compounds, especially for the application for photosensitization. It also has a review of advances in research and applications in this field.

This book addresses the synthesis of photosensitizers, the main emphasis being on the new methods of synthesis such as microwave, sonochemistry and the use of ionic liquids. It also addresses the photochemistry and photophysics of the photosensitizers alone and in combination with nanoparticles, the use of the photosensitizers in environmental control, safety and medicine. It discusses the common structures of the photosensitizers which are beneficial to these applications.

Photosensitisers in Biomedicine offers clear and comprehensive coverage of the many different photosensitiser types, including information on their many applications that now extend beyond anticancer therapy. These applications now include photoantimicrobial treatments not only in microbial disease, but also in the microbial resistance to conventional drugs, which is circumvented by photomicrobial action. The application of photoantimicrobials in biological fluids is also of considerable importance in the current era of HIV and is discussed in the book. This text offers the most up-to-date coverage of photodynamic therapy including information on how photosensitisers have evolved within the field of cancer therapy and more recently antimicrobial research. There are few books on the market that take the approach of this text, as many are either conference based or focus on the chemistry of photosensitisers. Photosensitisers in Biomedicine is clearly defined into three distinct parts beginning with a clear introduction to the various types of photosensitisers. The book then moves on to discuss the chemistry of photosensitisers and closes with their numerous applications, for example, photodynamic therapy, photodiagnosis, photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) and other non-oncological applications such as optical, arterial plaques and stents.

The first edition of The Science of Photobiology was published in 1977, and was the first textbook to cover all of the major areas of photobiology. The science of photobiology is currently divided into 14 subspecialty areas by the American Society for Photobiology. In this edition, however, the topics of phototechnology and spectroscopy have been com bined in a new chapter entitled "Photophysics." The other subspecialty areas remain the same, i.e., Photochemistry, Photosensitization, UV Radiation Effects, Environmental Photobiology, Photomedicine, Circadian Rhythms, Extraretinal Photoreception, Vision, Photomorphogenesis, Photomovement, Photosynthesis, and Bioluminescence. This book has been written as a textbook to introduce the science of photobiology to advanced undergraduate and graduate students. The chapters are written to provide a broad overview of each topic. They are designed to contain the amount of information that might be presented in a one-to two-hour general lecture. The references are not meant to be exhaustive, but key references are included to give students an entry into the literature. Frequently a more recent reference that reviews the literature will be cited rather than the first paper by the author making the original discovery. The chapters are not meant to be a repository of facts for research workers in the field, but rather are concerned with demon strating the importance of each specialty area of photobiology, and documenting its relevance to current and/or future problems of man.

Man has recognised an association of light with life and medicine for over 3000 years. Today the major challenges to this topic include the elucidation of photochemical reactions involved in photobiology at the molecular level. This includes the use of a variety of modem probing techniques that directly measures the reactivity of excited states and free radicals involved in biological reactions. This text-book is based on such an approach and has arisen from some of the lectures delivered at the NATO ASI held at Hotel Capo Caccia near the Centre for Advanced Research in Photobiology (CARP) in Sardegia, Italy. The ASI took place from 30 September -13 October 1993 and involved a total membership of 90. The book, like the NATO ASI itself, is divided into four themes starting with fundamental aspects and ending with complex medically related systems. Thus Theme 1 covers aspects of the underlying photophysics and photochemistry with particular emphasis on modem experimental techniques to study molecular mechanisms of biological processes. Theme 2 applies many of these fundamental studies to the chemical reactions of most relevance to photobiology and photomedicine such as photo-addition, -isomerization, -sensitization and -pigmentation. The third and fourth Themes deal with the deleterious and therapeutic aspects of light with particular emphasis on the use of Photo-Dynamic Therapy (PDT) to treat cancer and on viral and micro bioi infections.

Photosensitization and photocatalysis refer to processes by which permanent chemical transformations are induced on substrates (organic/inorganic) by radiation to which the substrates themselves are transparent. Such transformations can be highly specific, very efficient, and occur under mild conditions. Herein lies the power of photochemical methods for possible applications in the field of conversion and storage of solar energy. This book provides a recent survey of the progress in this important area in catalysis, with an emphasis on inorganic complexes and organometallic compounds as the key light aborbers. The book is organized in three parts: fundamentals, followed by applications. Discussions cover a wide variety of photosensitized or photocatalyzed reactions: decomposition of water, reduction of CO2 and CO; spectral sensitization in photoelectrochemical cells; transformations (oxidation, reduction, isomerization, hydrogenation, dehydrogenation, carbonylation, etc.) of organics such as alkanes, alkenes, alcohols, etc. In view of the variety of systems (sensitizers, substrates) and the topics covered, the volume is unique in the field of photochemistry and will appeal to academic and industrial researchers in various subdisciplines of chemistry, material science and catalysis.