Phenolic compounds are plants’ bioactive metabolites that have been studied for their ability to confer extensive benefits to human health. As currently there is an increased interest in natural compounds identification and characterization, new analytical methods based on advanced technologies have been developed. This paper summarizes current advances in the state of the art for polyphenols identification and quantification. Analytical techniques ranging from high-pressure liquid chromatography to hyphenated spectrometric methods are discussed. The topic of high-resolution mass spectrometry, from targeted quantification to untargeted comprehensive chemical profiling, is particularly addressed. Structure elucidation is one of the important steps for natural products research. Mass spectral data handling approaches, including acquisition mode selection, accurate mass measurements, elemental composition, mass spectral library search algorithms and structure confirmation through mass fragmentation pathways, are discussed.

The use of porphyrinic compounds in the field of theranostic nanomedicine, has increased substantially in the recent years due to their special features such as: long wavelength absorption and emission in the spectral region where the biological tissues absorb, a good photodynamic activity, photostability and low in vivo toxicity [1-3]. Despite significant advantages, due to the large pi conjugate systems, porphyrins easily form aggregates, which have a significantly lower ability for localization at cellular level and consequently decrease the therapeutic effect. So, before pharmaceutical formulation, it is necessary to study the spectral and aggregation properties of these compounds in membrane mimetic media, such as micelles, in order to determine the factors that modulate porphyrin−membrane interactions and that may resolve the aforementioned problems [4-6]. The present study included spectral evaluation of some amphiphilic porphyrins in TX-100/water and TX-100/cyclohexane micelles. The obtained results suggested for tested compounds the localization at the interface between the polyethylene oxide chains and the tert-octyl-phenyl etheric residue of the surfactant molecules. Considering the spectral behavior of the studied porphyrins, the experimental results confirmed the fact that incorporation in micelles will facilitate a better delivery to the cellular target without significant changes in the photophysical profile. References [1]. L.B. Josefsen, R.W. Boyle, Theranostics, 2012, 2, 916–966. [2]. M. Ethirajan, Y. Chen, P. Joshi, R.K. Pandey, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2011, 40, 340–362. [3]. P. Rai, S. Mallidi, X. Zheng, R. Rahmanzadeh, Y. Mir, S. Elrington, A. Khurshid, T. Hasan, Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev., 2010, 62, 1094–1124. [4]. M. van Elk, B.P. Murphy, T. Eufrásio-da-Silva, D. P. O’Reilly, T. Vermondenf, W. E. Henninkf, G. P. Duffy, E.Ruiz-Hernández, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2016, 515, 132–164. [5]. M. Cagel, F.C. Tesan, E. Bernabeu, M.J. Salgueiro, M.B. Zubillaga, M.A. Moretton, D. A. Chiappetta, European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, 2017, 113, 211–228. [6]. D. Silva Pellosi, I. R. Calori, L. Barcelos de Paula, N. Hioka, F. Quaglia, A. C. Tedesco, Materials Science and Engineering C, 2017, 711–719.   Acknowledgments This study was supported by projects ERA NET: Biomark, ctr. 7-030/2010 and Nanother, ctr: 53/2016 and 54/2016 of the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research