| abstract |
The invention provides salts of 5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) of formula (I): n n wherein RY is an organic acid moiety; Y is selected from the group consisting of a sulfonic acid residue, mono- or di-phosphoric acid residue, mono- or di-carboxylic acid residue and R is selected from the group consisting of saturated, unsaturated, straight or branched C 2 -C 20 chains, aryl, aralkyl or naphthyl. In preferred embodiments, RY is selected from benzenesulfonic acid (besylate), 2-naphthalene sulfonic acid (napsyate), p-toluenesulfonic acid (tosylate), diethyl phosphate, dibenzyl phosphate, di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate, caproic or stearic acids. The invention also provides methods for preparing the ALA salts of the invention, pharmaceutical compositions containing the ALA salts of the invention, and use of the ALA salts of the invention in photodynamic therapy (PDT). |