Muscle wasting is a frequent co-morbidity among patients with chronic HF. Patients with muscle wasting present with reduced exercise capacity and muscle strength, and advanced disease.

The tetrameric, η5‐coordinated aluminum(I) compound [{Al(C5Me5)}4] (1) is stable at room temperature. It was prepared from AlCl and [Mg(C5Me5)2]. In this cluster, four Al atoms form a regular tetrahedron and the planes of the C5Me5 rings lie nearly parallel to the respective faces of the tetrahedron. (see also Highlight on p. 544).

6-Substituted fulvenes are interesting and easily accessible starting materials for the synthesis of novel substituted titanocenes via reductive dimerisation, carbolithiation or hydridolithiation reactions, which are followed by a transmetallation reaction with titanium tetrachloride in the latter two cases. Depending on the substitution pattern, these titanocenes prove to be bioorganometallic anti-cancer drugs, which have significant potential against advanced or metastatic renal-cell cancer. Patients bearing these stages of kidney cancer have a poor prognosis so far and therefore real progress in the area of metal-based anti-cancer drugs may come from this simple and effective synthetic approach. This tutorial review provides an insight into the synthesis of fulvene-derived titanocenes and their activity in preclinical experiments.

From the reaction of 1-methylimidazole (1a), 4,5-dichloro-1H-imidazole (1b(I)) and 1-methylbenzimidazole (1c) with p-cyanobenzyl bromide (2a), non-symmetrically substituted N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) [(3a-c)] precursors, 5,6-dimethyl-1H-benzimidazole (1d) and 4,5-diphenyl-1H-imidazole (1e) with p-cyanobenzyl bromide (2a) and benzyl bromide (2b), symmetrically substituted N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) [(3d-f)] precursors were synthesised. These NHC-precursors were then reacted with silver(i) acetate to yield the NHC-silver complexes (1-methyl-3-(4-cyanobenzyl)imidazole-2-ylidene)silver(i)acetate (4a), (4,5-dichloro-1-(4-cyanobenzyl)-3-methyl)imidazole-2-ylidene)silver(i)acetate (4b), (1-methyl-3-(4-cyanobenzyl)benzimidazole-2-ylidene)silver(i)acetate (4c), (1,3-bis(4-cyanobenzyl)5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole-2-ylidene) silver(i) acetate (4d), (1,3-dibenzyl-5,6-dimethylbenzimidazole-2-ylidene) silver(i) acetate (4e) and (1,3-dibenzyl-4,5-diphenylimidazol-2-ylidene) silver(i) acetate (4f) respectively. Three NHC-precursors 3c-e and four NHC-silver complexes 4b and 4d-f were characterised by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Preliminary in vitro antibacterial activity of the NHC-precursors and NHC-silver complexes was investigated against Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, and Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli using the qualitative Kirby-Bauer disk-diffusion method. NHC-silver complexes have shown very high antibacterial activity compared to the NHC-precursors. All six NHC-silver complexes were tested for their cytotoxicity through MTT based in vitro tests on the human renal-cancer cell line Caki-1 in order to determine their IC₅₀ values. NHC-silver complexes 4a-f were found to have IC₅₀ values of 6.2 (±1.0), 7.7 (±1.6), 1.2 (±0.6), 10.8 (±1.9), 24.2 (±1.8) and 13.6 (±1.0) μM, respectively. These values represent improved cytotoxicity against Caki-1, most notably for 4c, which is a three times more cytotoxic than cisplatin (IC₅₀ value = 3.3 μM) itself.

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p‐Methoxybenzyl‐substituted and benzyl‐substituted N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC) [(3a–c) and (6a–c)] precursors were synthesised from the reaction of 1H‐imidazole (1a), 4,5‐dichloro‐1H‐imidazole (1b), and 1H‐benzimidazole (1c) with p‐methoxybenzyl bromide (2) and benzyl bromide (5). These NHC precursors were then treated with silver(I) acetate to yield the NHC–silver complexes [1,3‐bis(4‐methoxybenzyl)imidazol‐2‐ylidene]silver(I) acetate (4a), [4,5‐dichloro‐1,3‐bis(4‐methoxybenzyl)imidazol‐2‐ylidene]silver(I) acetate (4b), [1,3‐bis(4‐methoxybenzyl)benzimidazol‐2‐ylidene]silver(I) acetate (4c), (1,3‐dibenzylimidazol‐2‐ylidene)silver(I) acetate (7a), (1,3‐dibenzyl‐4,5‐dichloroimidazol‐2‐ylidene)silver(I) acetate (7b), and (1,3‐dibenzylbenzimidazol‐2‐ylidene)silver(I) acetate (7c), respectively. The NHC precursor 3c, four NHC–silver complexes 4c and 7a–c were characterised by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction method. The preliminary antibacterial activity of all the compounds was studied against Gram‐negative bacteria Escherichia coli, and Gram‐positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus using the Kirby–Bauer disk‐diffusion method. Almost all the NHC–silver complexes have shown high antibacterial activity compared to the NHC precursors. In addition, the NHC–silver complexes had their cytotoxicity investigated through MTT‐based preliminary in vitro testing on the Caki‐1 cell lines in order to determine their IC50 values. NHC–silver complexes 4a–c and 7a–c were found to have IC50 values of 7.3 (+/–6), 12.7(+/–3), 25.2 (+/–5), 2.5 (+/–3), 10.8 (+/–4) and 12.5 (+/–4) μM respectively on the Caki‐1 cell line.

Eine bei Raumtemperatur stabile Aluminium(I)‐Verbindung ist das tetramere, η5‐koordinierte [{Al(C5Me5)}4] 1, das aus AlCl und [Mg(C5Me5)2] herstellbar ist. In diesem Cluster bilden vier Al‐Atome ein reguläres Tetraeder, und die Ebenen der C5Me5‐Ringe liegen nahezu parallel zur jeweils gegenüberliegenden Basisfläche des Tetraeders. Siehe auch Highlight auf S. 559.

The synthesis, characterization, and biological evaluation of novel Ru(II)-and Au(I)-N-heterocyclic carbenes is reported. The NHC-ruthenium(II) complexes (1−6) were synthesized by reacting the appropriately substituted imidazolium bromides with Ag 2 O, forming the NHC-silver bromide in situ followed by transmetalation with dimeric p-cymene ruthenium(II) dichloride. In an analogous manner the NHCgold(I) chloride complexes (NHC-Au(I)Cl) 7−9 were synthesized, utilizing dimethylsulfido gold(I) chloride as the transmetalating agent. The ligand exchange on the NHCgold(I) chlorides was achieved by either reacting the complexes with silver acetate to yield the NHC-gold(I) acetates (NHC-Au(I)OAc) 10−12 or reacting the NHC-gold(I) chlorides under basic conditions with 2′,3′,4′,6′-tetra-O-acetyl-1-thio-β-D-glucopyranose (SR) to give the NHC-gold(I)-(2′,3′,4′,6′-tetra-O-acetyl-β-D-glucopyranosyl-1-thiolate) complexes (NHC-Au(I)SR) 13−15. The Ru(II)-NHC complex 1 and the Au(I)-NHC complex 9 were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Also the IC 50 values of these 15 complexes were determined by an MTT-based assay against the human cancer cell lines Caki-1 (renal) and MCF-7 (breast). The Ru(II) complexes 1−6 revealed the following IC 50 values against Caki-1 of >500, 94 (±5), 93 (±2), 170 (±20), 39 (±5), and 13 (±2) μM and against