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With the aim of assessing whether ruthenium(II) compounds with meridional geometry might be utilized as potential antitumor agents, a series of new, water-soluble, monofunctional ruthenium(II) complexes of the general formula mer-[Ru(L3)(N-N)X][Y]n (where L3 = 2,2':6',2″-terpyridine (tpy) or 4'-chloro-2,2':6',2″-terpyridine (Cl-tpy), N-N = 1,2-diaminoethane (en), 1,2-diaminocyclohexane (dach), or 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy); X = Cl or dmso-S; Y = Cl, PF6, or CF3SO3; n = 1 or 2, depending on the nature of X) were synthesized. All complexes were fully characterized by elemental analysis and spectroscopic techniques (IR, UV/visible, and 1D and 2D NMR), and for three of them, i.e., [Ru(Cl-tpy)(bpy)Cl][Cl] (3Cl), [Ru(Cl-tpy)(en)(dmso-S)][Y]2 [Y = PF6 (6PF6), CF3SO3 (6OTf)] and [Ru(Cl-tpy)(bpy)(dmso-S)][CF3SO3]2 (8OTf), the X-ray structure was also determined. The new terpyridine complexes, with the exception of 8, are well soluble in water (>25 mg/mL). (1)H and (31)P NMR spectroscopy studies performed on the three selected complexes [Ru(Cl-tpy)(N-N)Cl](+) [N-N = en (1), dach (2), and bpy (3)] demonstrated that, after hydrolysis of the Cl ligand, they are capable of interacting with guanine derivatives [i.e., 9-methylguanine (9MeG) or guanosine-5'-monophosphate (5'-GMP)] through N7, forming monofunctional adducts with rates and extents that depend strongly on the nature of N-N: 1 ≈ 2 ≫ 3. In addition, compound 1 shows high selectivity toward 5'-GMP compared to adenosine-5'-monophosphate (5'-AMP), in a competition experiment. Quantitative kinetic investigations on 1 and 2 were performed by means of UV/visible spectroscopy. Overall, the complexes with bidentate aliphatic diamines proved to be superior to those with bpy in terms of solubility and reactivity (i.e., release of Cl(-) and capability to bind guanine derivatives). Contrary to the chlorido compounds, the corresponding dmso derivatives proved to be inert (viz., they do not release the monodentate ligand) in aqueous media.

A brief overview of mechanistic studies on the reactions of different Pt(II) complexes with nitrogen- and sulfur-donor biomolecules is presented. The first part describes the results obtained for substitution reactions of mono-functional Pt(II) complexes with different biomolecules, under various experimental conditions (temperature, pH and ionic strength). In addition, an overview of the results obtained for the substitution reactions of bi-functional Pt(II) complexes, analogous to cisplatin, with biomolecules is given. The last part of this report deals with different polynuclear Pt(II) complexes and their substitution behaviour with different biomolecules. The purpose of this perspective is to improve the understanding of the mechanism of action of Pt(II) complexes as potential anti-tumour drugs in the human body.

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The influence of tridentate, nitrogen donor ligands, on the stability of gold(III) complexes under physiological conditions was investigated. The interaction of [Au(terpy)Cl] 2+ (terpy = 2,2':6'2'' terpyridine), [Au(bpma)Cl] 2+ (bpma = bis(pyridyl-methyl)amine), [Au(dien)Cl] 2+ (dien = diethylenetriamine) and [AuCl 4 ] − with the biologically relevant thiols, L-cysteine (L-Cys) and glutathione (GSH), and thioether, L-methionine (L-Met), was studied using UV-Vis spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, 1 H NMR spectroscopy and ESI-MS. In this study, the rate constants for substitution reactions between monofunctional gold(III) complexes and sulfur donor ligands in aqueous solution were determined at different initial concentrations of reactants, chloride ions, pH and constant ionic strength. The obtained second-order rate constants for the reaction with L-methionine in the absence of added chloride at pH 2.5 and 25°C follow the sequence (7.5 ± 0.4) × 10 3 > (4.5 ± 0.1) × 10 2 > 88.3 ± 0.8 M −1 s −1 for the terpy, bpma and dien complexes, respectively, demonstrating that the substitution step could be detected prior to the reduction step. This behavior was expected due to the influence of a decreasing π-donor ability of the chelate ligands, which slows down the substitution reactions along the series of complexes studied. In order to throw more light on the mechanism of biological activity of gold(III) compounds, such a systematic study was performed for all the mentioned thiols and thioether.

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In this study, two representatives of previously synthesized ruthenium(II) terpyridine complexes, i.e., and P2 against all the selected cell lines. The results on in vitro anticancer activity confirmed that only compounds that hydrolyze the monodentate ligand at a reasonable rate show moderate activity, provided that the chelate ligand is a hydrogen bond donor.

The complex formation equilibria of [Pt(SMC)(H(2)O)(2)](+) and [Pt(terpy)H(2)O](2+), where SMC =S-methyl-L-cysteine and terpy = 2,2':6',2"-terpyridine, with some biologically relevant ligands such as inosine (INO), inosine-5'-monophosphate (5'-IMP), guanosine-5'-monophosphate (5'-GMP) and glutathione (GSH) were studied. The stoichiometry and stability constants of the complexes formed are reported, and the concentration distribution of the various complex species have been evaluated as a function of pH. Also the kinetics and mechanism of the complex formation reactions were studied as a function of nucleophile concentration and temperature. For the complex [Pt(SMC)(H(2)O)(2)](+), two consecutive reaction steps, which both depend on the nucleophile concentration, were observed under all conditions. The negative entropies of activation support an associative complex formation mechanism. Reaction of guanosine-5'-monophosphate (5'-GMP) with Pt(II) complexes was carried out in the presence and absence of glutathione (GSH) at neutral pH. The rate constants clearly showed a kinetic preference toward GSH at neutral pH. The reactions were also monitored by HPLC. However, only a small amount of coordinated 5'-GMP was detected in the HPLC trace. The products were isolated and characterized by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.