Challenges and Opportunities in the Development of Organometallic Anticancer Drugs

Abstract

This review provides an introduction into the fascinating area of organometallic anticancer compounds. Although the subject dates back many years, it has witnessed considerable growth only in the past decade. A brief overview of the subject together with recent pertinent examples is provided. The properties of organometallic compounds that lend themselves to medical applications, the main current approaches used, and possible avenues for future research are identified.

Antitumor pentamethylcyclopentadienyl rhodium complexes of maltol and allomaltol: Synthesis, solution speciation and bioactivity

“…The nature of the co-ligands in the half-sandwich complexes strongly affects the stability, reactivity and biological activity. On the other hand, metallodrugs are generally considered as prodrugs and thus can undergo transformation processes in the aqueous phase under physiological conditions [18]. Therefore, the knowledge of their speciation and the most plausible chemical species formed in aqueous solution in the biologically relevant pH range is a mandatory prerequisite for understanding the alterations in their biological activity [19].…”

3-Hydroxyflavones vs. 3-hydroxyquinolinones: structure–activity relationships and stability studies on RuII(arene) anticancer complexes with biologically active ligands

“…2 Two Ru In the course of ruthenium anticancer drug development programmes, organometallic and especially half-sandwich Ru II (η 6 -arene) complexes have more and more demonstrated their 35 potential. [6][7][8][9][10] Their hydrophobic arene ligand is thought to facilitate the diffusion through the lipophilic cell membrane.…”

Selective cytotoxicity of arene tricarbonylchromium towards tumour cell lines

“…Organometallic compounds have been extensively studied for their applications in medicine over the last two decades [13][14][15][16][17][18]. The first fruit was arsphenamine (Salvarsan), which is based on arsenic (despite its unfavourable reputation as poison) and azobenzene, serving for the treatment of syphilis and trypanosomiasis.…”