RESUMO
Carbon dots (CDs) exhibit great potential in medicinal chemistry due to its excellent optical properties, biocompatibility and scalability, which have attracted significant interest. Based on their specific synthesis and modification, this review provided an overview of the evolution of the synthesis of CDs and reviewed the discovery and development of their optical properties. This review examines recent advances of CDs in medicinal chemistry, with a particular focus on the use of CDs as drugs and carriers for photodynamic and photothermal therapies in the field of neurological disorders, cancer, bacterial, viral, and further in combination with imaging for diagnostic and therapeutic integration. Finally, this review addresses the challenges and limitations of CDs in medicinal chemistry. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the development process of CDs and their applications in various aspects of medicinal chemistry, thereby offers insights to the development of CDs in the field of medicinal chemistry.