Increasing the selectivity of light active anti‐microbial agents – or how to get a photosensitizer to the desired target?

Photosensitizers combine the inherent reactivity of reactive oxygen species with the sophisticated reaction control of light. Through selective targeting these light-active molecules have the potential to overcome certain limitations in drug discovery. Ongoing advances in the synthesis and evaluation of photosensitizer conjugates with biomolecules such as antibodies, peptides or small molecule drugs are leading to increasingly powerful agents for the eradication of a growing number of microbial species. This review article therefore summarizes challenges and opportunities in the development of selective photosensitizers and their conjugates described in recent literature. This provides adequate insight for newcomers and those interested in this field.