Impact of Coordination Mode and Ferrocene Functionalization on the Anticancer Activity of N-Heterocyclic Carbene Half-Sandwich Complexes

Autor: Kelvin K. H. Tong, Mie Riisom, Euphemia Leung, Muhammad Hanif, Tilo Söhnel, Stephen M. F. Jamieson, Christian G. Hartinger
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Inorganic Chemistry. 61:17226-17241
ISSN: 1520-510X
0020-1669
Popis: The substitution of phenyl rings in established drugs with ferrocenyl moieties has been reported to yield compounds with improved biological activity and alternative modes of action, often involving the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Translating this concept to N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes, we report here organometallics with a piano-stool structure that feature di- or tridentate ligand systems. The ligands impacted the cytotoxic activity of the NHC complexes, but the coordination modes seemed to have a limited influence, which may be related to the propensity of forming the same species in solution. In general, the stability of the complexes in an aqueous environment and their reactivity to selected biomolecules were largely dominated by the nature of the metal center. While the complexes promoted the formation of ROS, the levels did not correlate with their cytotoxic activity. However, the introduction of ferrocenyl moieties had a significant impact on the antiproliferative potency of the complexes and, in particular, some of the ferrocenyl-functionalized compounds yielded IC
Databáze: OpenAIRE