Applications of five-membered ring products of cyclometalation reactions as anticancer agents

Synthesis, structures, and reactivity studies of cyclometalated N-heterocyclic carbene complexes of ruthenium

Dehydrochlorination of Cp*Ru(IPr)Cl leads to an unusual C–C bond activation, yielding a cyclometalated Ru complex bearing an NHC-C(sp²) ligand. Reactivity studies of cyclometalated Ru complexes were explored.

Organometallic Group 11 (CuIII , AgIII , AuIII ) Complexes of a trans-Doubly N-Confused Porphyrin: An "Expanded Imidazole" Structural Motif

Complexation of group 11 metal cations with an α-bis(phenylthio)-substituted trans-doubly N-confused porphyrin (trans-N₂ CP_SPh : 4) afforded a series of square-planar trivalent organometallic complexes (i.e., Cu-H4, Ag-H4, and Au-H4). The X-ray crystal structures of the complexes revealed highly planar core geometries along with the presence of peripheral amine and imine nitrogen sites of the pyrrolic moieties. NMR, UV/Vis absorption, and magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopies suggested the 18 π-electron aromaticity of the complexes. The aromaticity was also fully analyzed by various theoretical methodologies such as nucleus-independent chemical shift (NICS) and anisotropic induced current density (ACID) calculations. The central metal affects the amphiprotic character of the complexes possessing both pyrrolic amino nitrogen and imino nitrogen atoms at the periphery, which was examined by the photometric titration with trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU), respectively. The inherent acidity of the complexes was followed in the order; Cu-H4>Au-H4>Ag-H4 and that of basicity was Au-H4>Ag-H4>Cu-H4. The complexes could be considered as an "expanded imidazole" structural motif.

Iridacycles for hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reactions

Iridacycles are a group of cyclometalated metal complexes, which have recently been shown to be versatile catalysts for a range of reactions. This Feature Article provides an account of the work carried out by our groups. We start with an introduction to the variety of iridacycles and how they entered into catalysis. The following sections provide an overview of the discovery and applications in catalysis of the iridacycles originated from our labs, including transfer hydrogenation with formic acid, hydrogenation with H₂, dehydrogenation and borrowing-hydrogen reactions. Where possible, mechanistic insight is also presented. A notable advantage of these iridacycles is their ease of preparation, stability to air and water and high modularity. With only one coordination site available for substrate activation, the iridacycles differ from most homogeneous catalysts structure-wise.

Gas-phase reactivity of Cp* group IX metal complexes bearing aromatic N,N′-chelating ligands

Compounds of the type [(η⁵-Cp*)M(Cl)(N,N′)]⁺ bearing N,N′-coordinating ligands show different modes of HCl cleavage depending on the nature of the N,N′-chelate ligand and the metal center.

Photophysical study on unsymmetrical binuclear cycloplatinated(ii) complexes

A general synthetic method has been designed to prepare a new series of unsymmetrical binuclear cyclometalated organoplatinum(ii) complexes and the effect of each part on their luminescence properties were investigated.

Facile cyclometallation of a mesitylsilylene: synthesis and preliminary catalytic activity of iridium(iii) and iridium(v) iridasilacyclopentenes

The cyclometallation of a monosilylene has been achieved in iridium(iii) and iridium(v) complexes; the former catalyse arene deuteriations and borylations.

Neutral and ionic platinum compounds containing a cyclometallated chiral primary amine: synthesis, antitumor activity, DNA interaction and topoisomerase I-cathepsin B inhibition

The synthesis and preliminary biological evaluation of neutral and cationic platinum derivatives of chiral 1-(1-naphthyl)ethylamine are reported, namely cycloplatinated neutral complexes [PtCl{(R or S)-NH(2)CH(CH(3))C(10)H(6)}(L)] [L = SOMe(2) ( 1-R or 1-S ), L = PPh(3) (2-R or 2-S), L = P(4-FC(6)H(4))(3) (3-R), L = P(CH(2))(3)N(3)(CH(2))(3) (4-R)], cycloplatinated cationic complexes [Pt{(R)-NH(2)CH(CH(3))C(10)H(6)}{L}]Cl [L = Ph(2)PCH(2)CH(2)PPh(2) (5-R), L = (C(6)F(5))(2)PCH(2)CH(2)P(C(6)F(5))(2) (6-R)] and the Pt(ii) coordination compound trans-[PtCl(2){(R)-NH(2)CH(CH(3))C(10)H(6)}(2)] (7-R). The X-ray molecular structure of 7-R is reported. The cytotoxic activity against a panel of human adenocarcinoma cell lines (A-549 lung, MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 breast, and HCT-116 colon), cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, DNA interaction, topoisomerase I and cathepsin B inhibition, and Pt cell uptake of the studied compounds are presented. Remarkable cytotoxicity was observed for most of the synthesized Pt(ii) compounds regardless of (i) the absolute configuration R or S, and (ii) the coordinated/cyclometallated (neutral or cationic) nature of the complexes. The most potent compound 2-R (IC(50) = 270 nM) showed a 148-fold increase in potency with regard to cisplatin in HCT-116 colon cancer cells. Preliminary biological results point out to different biomolecular targets for the investigated compounds. Neutral cyclometallated complexes 1-R and 2-R, modify the DNA migration as cisplatin, cationic platinacycle 5-R was able to inhibit topoisomerase I-promoted DNA supercoiling, and Pt(ii) coordination compound 7-R turned out to be the most potent inhibitor of cathepsin B. Induction of G-1 phase ( 2-R and 5-R ), and S and G-2 phases (6-R) arrests are related to the antiproliferative activity of some representative compounds upon A-549 cells. Induction of apoptosis is also observed for 2-R and 6-R.

Photoswitchable azobenzene-appended iridium(iii) complexes

The use of aliphatic-bridging units to append azobenzene fragments on triscyclometalated Ir(iii) complexes permits the construction of photoswitchable organometallics.

Chiral cyclometalation of 6-(1-phenylbenzyl)-2,2'-bipyridine

A new bipyridine ligand, 6-(1-phenylbenzyl)-2,2'-bipyridine, has been prepared by a multistep synthesis starting from the corresponding substituted pyridine. The coordinating properties of the new ligand have been tested with two d(8) metal ions, Pt(ii) and Pd(ii), to give the cyclometalated complexes [Pt(N,N,C)Cl] and [Pd(N,N,C)Cl], where N,N,C is a terdentate deprotonated bipyridine containing a new stereogenic carbon atom directly generated by C-H bond activation. The single-crystal of the platinum complex has been solved by X-ray diffraction. DFT calculations confirm the presence of a PtH interaction that stabilizes one of the two possible conformers by 14.7 kJ mol(-1) for Pt and 12.9 kJ mol(-1) for Pd. The energy barrier to pass from one conformer to the other is 25.4 and 23.8 kJ mol(-1) respectively. Under different reaction conditions, regioselective activation of a pyridine C-H bond gave the less common cyclometalated rollover complex [Pt(L-H)Me(DMSO)], which was isolated and characterised.

Novel C,N-Cyclometalated Benzimidazole Ruthenium(II) and Iridium(III) Complexes as Antitumor and Antiangiogenic Agents: A Structure-Activity Relationship Study

A series of novel C,N-cyclometalated benzimidazole ruthenium(II) and iridium(III) complexes of the types [(η(6)-p-cymene)RuCl(κ(2)-N,C-L)] and [(η(5)-C5Me5)IrCl(κ(2)-N,C-L)] (HL = methyl 1-butyl-2-arylbenzimidazolecarboxylate) with varying substituents (H, Me, F, CF3, MeO, NO2, and Ph) in the R4 position of the phenyl ring of 2-phenylbenzimidazole chelating ligand of the ruthenium (3a-g) and iridium complexes (4a-g) have been prepared. The cytotoxic activity of the new ruthenium(II) and iridium(III) compounds has been evaluated in a panel of cell lines (A2780, A2780cisR, A427, 5637, LCLC, SISO, and HT29) in order to investigate structure-activity relationships. Phenyl substitution at the R4 position shows increased potency in both Ru and Ir complexes (3g and 4g, respectively) as compared to their parent compounds (3a and 4a) in all cell lines. In general, ruthenium complexes are more active than the corresponding iridium complexes. The new ruthenium and iridium compounds increased caspase-3 activity in A2780 cells, as shown for 3a,d and 4a,d. Compound 4g is able to increase the production of ROS in A2780 cells. Furthermore, all the new compounds are able to overcome the cisplatin resistance in A2780cisR cells. In addition, some of the metal complexes effectively inhibit angiogenesis in the human umbilical vein endothelial cell line EA.hy926 at 0.5 μM, the ruthenium derivatives 3g (Ph) and 3d (CF3) being the best performers. QC calculations performed on some ruthenium model complexes showed only moderate or slight electron depletion at the phenyl ring of the C,N-cyclometalated ligand and the chlorine atom on increasing the electron withdrawing effect of the R substituent.

Cyclometalated Iminophosphorane Gold(III) and Platinum(II) Complexes. A Highly Permeable Cationic Platinum(II) Compound with Promising Anticancer Properties

New organometallic gold(III) and platinum(II) complexes containing iminophosphorane ligands are described. Most of them are more cytotoxic to a number of human cancer cell lines than cisplatin. Cationic Pt(II) derivatives 4 and 5, which differ only in the anion, Hg₂Cl₆^2– or PF₆^– respectively, display almost identical IC₅₀ values in the sub-micromolar range (25–335-fold more active than cisplatin on these cell lines). The gold compounds induced mainly caspase-independent cell death, as previously reported for related cycloaurated compounds containing IM ligands. Cycloplatinated compounds 3, 4, and 5 can also activate alternative caspase-independent mechanisms of death. However, at short incubation times cell death seems to be mainly caspase dependent, suggesting that the main mechanism of cell death for these compounds is apoptosis. Mercury-free compound 5 does not interact with plasmid (pBR322) DNA or with calf thymus DNA. Permeability studies of 5 by two different assays, in vitro Caco-2 monolayers and a rat perfusion model, have revealed a high permeability profile for this compound (comparable to that of metoprolol or caffeine) and an estimated oral fraction absorbed of 100%, which potentially makes it a good candidate for oral administration.

A combined kinetico-mechanistic and computational study on the competitive formation of seven- versus five-membered platinacycles; the relevance of spectator halide ligands

The selective formation of seven- or five-membered platinacycles is kinetically directed by the nature of a spectator halido (X = Br, Cl) ligand on the Pt^II centre.

Luminescent pentafluorophenyl-cycloplatinated complexes: synthesis, characterization, photophysics, cytotoxicity and cellular imaging

Pentafluorophenyl cycloplatinated complexes have been synthesized and their photophysical properties studied and investigated by DFT, TD-DFT calculations. The cellular localization and the cytotoxicity of [Pt(C^N)(C₆F₅)(DMSO)] complexes towards two different cell lines has been assessed.