Near-Infrared Light Dual-Promoted Heterogeneous Copper Nanocatalyst for Highly Efficient Bioorthogonal Chemistry in Vivo

Owing to better stability and biosafety, heterogeneous Cu nanoparticles (CuNPs) have been put forward as a promising candidate to complete the Cu(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction. However, the inherent poor activity of Cu(0) deterred its wide bioapplication. Herein, we employed near-infrared (NIR) light to dual-promote the CuAAC reaction of a biocompatible heterogeneous copper nanocatalyst through photodynamic and photothermal effects in vitro and in vivo. Specifically, the photodynamic activity could promote the conversion of Cu(0) to Cu(I) to accelerate the catalytic process of CuAAC. The high photothermal conversion efficiency (η = 50.6%) could increase the local temperature, further promoting the whole reaction. Then, a drastically increased reaction rate in a living system ranging from cells to nematodes was achieved in our system. Meanwhile, the better antitumor efficacy has determined with in vivo tumor therapy experiments.