Photostability and thermal stability of indocyanine green

The photo-fading of the S0S1 absorption band of the infrared dye indocyanine green sodium iodide (ICG-NaI) has been studied by cw laser excitation to the S1 band. Monomeric solutions in water, heavy water, aqueous sodium azide, human plasma, methanol and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as well as J-aggregated solutions in H2O and D2O have been investigated. A leucoform of indocyanine green seems to be formed by photodegradation. The degradation slows down with exposure time. The initial degradation yield, φ(D,0), is determined. In monomeric and dimeric water, heavy water and sodium azide solutions the initial photostability is of the order of φ(D,0) ≃ 10-3, in the organic solvents methanol and DMSO it is of the order of φ(D,0), ≃ 10-5, and in human plasma it is φ(D,0) ≃ 2 x 10-6. J-aggregates at high concentration are very stable. The thermal stability of the ICG-NaI solutions at room temperature in the dark is compared with their photostability. The thermal degradation time of monomeric and dimeric ICG-NaI in water, heavy water and sodium azide solutions is t(th) ≃ 10 days, while no thermal degradation is observed for ICG-NaI J-aggregates and ICG-NaI in methanol, DMSO and human plasma.