Self‐assembled coordination cages are interesting as drug‐delivery systems. Therefore, the synthesis of new M2L4 (M = Pd, Pt) molecular cages derived from highly fluorescent, rigid polyaromatic ligands is reported herein, and the first Pt2L4 cage with a ligand consisting of three pyridine moieties is described. The photophysical properties were examined, and they showed high quantum yields Φ of up to 48 % for the methoxy‐functionalized ligands. Coordination of the ligands to palladium and platinum ions did, however, reduce the fluorescence of the metallocages. The host–guest chemistry of the palladium cages with cisplatin was investigated, which confirmed the encapsulation. The cages encapsulating cisplatin show significantly increased cytotoxicity towards A549 (human lung adenocarcinoma) cells relative to that shown by cisplatin and, thus, appear to be promising delivery vectors for the anticancer drug cisplatin.

The first stable formal Cu(iii) NHC and its unusual reactivity with acetate are reported. Several products of this reaction are identified and fully characterised. It reactivity is extensively investigated and additionally explored by means of theoretical, electrochemical and isotope labelling experiments.

In this work, cluster expansion of nine-atomic germanium clusters with nickel and platinum atoms is reported. The compounds [(Me3Si)3­Si]3­Et­[Ge9Ni]­(PPh3) and [(Me3Si)3­Si]3­Et­[Ge9Pt]­(PPh3) are characterized by NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and single crystal X-ray structure analysis. The latter represents the first intermetalloid Ge-Pt cluster with a platinum atom as part of a deltahedron. So far, only one compound of this type has been reported for the homologous Pd. Hence, with these new compounds, metal-coordinated deltahedral Ge9 clusters are now known for the whole triad of group 10 elements. The cluster compounds are accessible by treating [(Me3Si)3­Si]3­EtGe9 with η2-ethylene-bis-(triphenyl­phos­phine)-nickel­(0) and η2-ethylene-bis-(triphenyl­phos­phine)-platinum­(0), respectively, in toluene. The crystal structure determination reveals ten-vertex-closo-[Ge9 M]-cluster cores (M = Ni, Pt) bearing five exo-bonded ligands. Unlike the nine-vertex-cluster [(Me3Si)3­Si]3­EtGe9, the penta-functionalized platinum containing cluster compound [(Me3Si)3­Si]3­Et­[Ge9Pt]­(PPh3) does not show fluctuating behavior in solution over a wide temperature range on the NMR time scale, whereas the [(Me3Si)3­Si]3­Et­[Ge9Ni]­(PPh3) shows highly dynamic processes in solution at ambient temperature.