Electronic and ring size effects of N-heterocyclic carbenes on the kinetics of ligand substitution reactions and DNA/protein interactions of their palladium(II) complexes

The synthesis, substitution kinetics and DNA/BSA interactions of four cationic Pd(II) complexes [Pd(1)Cl]BF4 (Pd1), [Pd(2)Cl]BF4 (Pd2), [Pd(3)Cl]BF4 (Pd3) and [Pd(4)Cl]BF4 (Pd4), derived from the reaction of [PdCl2(NCCH3)2] with ligands 2,6-bis(3-methylimidazolium-1-yl)pyridine dibromide (1), 2,6-bis(3-ethylimidazolium-1-yl)pyridine dibromide (2), 2,6-bis(1-methylimidazole-2-thione)pyridine (3), and 2,6-bis(1-ethylimidazole-2-thione)pyridine (4), respectively are reported. The complexes were characterised by various spectroscopic techniques and single crystal X-ray diffraction for compound Pd2. Kinetic reactivity of the complexes with the biologically relevant nucleophiles thiourea (Tu), L-methionine (L-Met) and guanosine 5'-monophosphate sodium salt (5'-GMP) was in the order: Pd1 > Pd2 > Pd3 > Pd4, which was largely dependent on the electronic and ring size of the chelate ligands, consistent with Density functional theory (DFT) simulations. The interactions of the complexes with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) binding titrations showed strong binding. Both the experimental and in silico data reveal CT-DNA intercalative binding mode.

N-Heterocyclic Carbene Adducts of Main Group Elements and Their Use as Ligands in Transition Metal Chemistry

N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) are nowadays ubiquitous and indispensable in many research fields, and it is not possible to imagine modern transition metal and main group element chemistry without the plethora of available NHCs with tailor-made electronic and steric properties. While their suitability to act as strong ligands toward transition metals has led to numerous applications of NHC complexes in homogeneous catalysis, their strong σ-donating and adaptable π-accepting abilities have also contributed to an impressive vitalization of main group chemistry with the isolation and characterization of NHC adducts of almost any element. Formally, NHC coordination to Lewis acids affords a transfer of nucleophilicity from the carbene carbon atom to the attached exocyclic moiety, and low-valent and low-coordinate adducts of the p-block elements with available lone pairs and/or polarized carbon-element π-bonds are able to act themselves as Lewis basic donor ligands toward transition metals. Accordingly, the availability of a large number of novel NHC adducts has not only produced new varieties of already existing ligand classes but has also allowed establishment of numerous complexes with unusual and often unprecedented element-metal bonds. This review aims at summarizing this development comprehensively and covers the usage of N-heterocyclic carbene adducts of the p-block elements as ligands in transition metal chemistry.

Metal–ligand cooperation at tethered π-ligands

Recent advances in the use of tethered π-coordinating ligands for metal–ligand cooperation.