The anion fac-[Fe(CO)3I3]− undergoes rapid decomposition to release CO and involve iodine radical. The CO-release can be tuned by its cations. The radical causes severe cytotoxicity which may endow the anion a great potential as an anticancer drug.
Four iron(II) carbonyl complexes, fac-[Fe (CO) 3 X 2 (py)] (X = I − , 1 and Br − , 3), fac-[{Fe (CO) 3 X 2 } 2 (bipy)] (X = I − , 2 and Br − , 4), were facilely synthesized by reacting cis-[Fe (CO) 4 X 2 ] (X = I − , Br −) with pyridine (py) and 4,4 0-dipyridine (bipy) ligands, respectively, in good yields (70%85%). These complexes were fully characterized, and the structures of Complexes 2 and 3 were crystallographically analyzed. In dimethyl sulfoxide, they decomposed rapidly to release carbon monoxide (CO), and in methanol, they showed better stability which allowed kinetically analyzing their decomposing behaviors. The selfdecomposing in methanol fitted first-order kinetics with a half-time ranging from several minutes to 1 h. Our results suggested that the ligand with great conjugation (bipy) and strong electron-donating capability (iodide) could stabilize the iron(II) carbonyl complexes. The decomposition of the iodo complexes (1 and 2) involved the production of iodine radicals. MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assessments revealed that the efficacy against human bladder carcinoma cell line (RT112) is in the following trend: 1 > 2 > 3 > 4. The relatively strong efficacy of Complexes 1 and 2 is mainly contributed to the in situ generated iodine radicals. The combination of the cytotoxicity of the in situ generated radicals with the anticancer activity of CO as reported in literatures may lead to developing novel anticancer drugs with enhanced efficacy. K E Y W O R D S anticancer activity, carbon monoxide release and kinetics, iodine radical, iron carbonyl compounds, solvolysis Zhuming Guo and Jing Jin contributed equally to this work.
Four new monoiron (II) tricarbonyl complexes with the amine bound, fac‐[Fe(CO)3I2(NH2R)] (R = Et, 1; nPr, 2; nBu, 3; nPent, 4), were reported using cis‐[Fe(CO)4I2] as the precursor. All the complexes 1–4 were structurally confirmed by various techniques such as ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra and elemental analysis of which complexes 1 and 2 are crystallographically determined. The reaction of the precursor with alkylamines proceeded in two main parallel pathways to form both aminium salts of fac‐[Fe(CO)3I3]− and the amine‐bound complexes (1–4). Their dominances altered with the reaction time. These complexes in DMSO undergo quick decomposition with complex 1 as the relatively most stable one (t1/2 = 7.3 min) although they are stable in solid status. Unlike the triiodo anion and pyridinyl analogs showing severe cytotoxicity due to the generation of iodine radical during the decomposition, no iodine radicals were detected from the fac‐[Fe(CO)3I2(NH2R)] complexes. Therefore, the cell viability of RT112 cells was not affected by the presence of the amine‐bound iron complex (1) up to 100 μmol L−1.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.