The oncological use of cisplatin is hindered by its severe side effects and a very important resistance problem. To overcome these problems, scientists have attempted to design new generation transition-metal anticancer complexes. In this study, we present new complexes, ruthenium(II) [(η6-p-cymene)RuCl(py2CO)]PF6 (1), iridium(III) [(η5-Cp)IrCl(py2CO)]PF6 (2), and NH4[IrCl4(py2CO)]·H2O (3), based on di-2-pyridylketone (py2CO). The prepared complexes were characterized by FTIR, 1H, 13C, 15N NMR, UV-Vis, PL and elemental analysis techniques. The single-crystal X-ray structure analysis and comparative data revealed pseudo-octahedral half-sandwich 1 and 2 complexes and octahedral tetrachloroiridate(III) 3 with a rare chelating κ2N,O coordination mode of py2CO. The compounds were tested in vitro against three cancer cell lines-colorectal adenoma (LoVo), myelomonocytic leukaemia (MV-4-11), breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), and normal fibroblasts (BALB/3T3). The most promising results were obtained for iridium(III) complex 3 against MV-4-11 (IC50 = 35.8 ± 13.9 µg/mL) without a toxic effect against normal BALB/3T3, which pointed towards its selectivity as a potential anticancer agent. Extensive research into their mode of binding with DNA confirmed for 1 and 2 complexes non-classical binding modes, while the 3D circular dichroism (CD) experiment (ΔTm) suggested that 3 induced the probable formation of covalent bonds with DNA. In addition, the obtained iridium complexes induce ROS, which, in synergy with hydrolysis promoting DNA bonding, may lead to cancer cell death.

Two novel coordination polymers, [Bi2(2,3pydc)2(2,3pydcH)2(H2O)]n (1) and {(Et3NH)2[Bi(2,3pydc)(2,3pydcH)Cl2]}n (2) were prepared using as a prolinker pyridine-2,3-dicarboxylic acid (2,3pydcH2). The obtained complexes were fully characterized by elemental analysis, TG/DTG, FT-IR, solid-state photoluminescence, DFT calculations and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The obtained complexes crystallized in the triclinic P-1 space group (1) and comprise dimeric units with two crystallographically different Bi(III) centers (polyhedra: distorted pentagonal bipyramid and bicapped trigonal prism) and monoclinic P21/c space group (2) with a distorted monocapped pentagonal bipyramid of Bi(III) center. The various coordination modes of bridging carboxylate ligands are responsible for the formation of 1D chains with 4,5C10 (1) and 2C1 (2) topology. The photoluminescence quantum yield for polymer 2 is 8.36%, which makes it a good candidate for more specific studies towards Bi-based fluorescent materials. Moreover, it was detected that polymer 1 is more than twice as active against H. pylori as polymer 2. It can be concluded that there is an existing relationship between the structure and the antibacterial activity because the presence of chloride and triethylammonium ions in the structure of complex 2 reduces the antibacterial activity.

Herein, we present dicarboxylate platinum(II) complexes of the general formula [Pt(mal)(DMSO)(L)] and [Pt(CBDC)(DMSO)(L)], where L is dbtp 5,7-ditertbutyl-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine) or ibmtp (7-isobutyl-5-methyl-1,2,4- triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine), as prospective prodrugs. The platinum(II) complexes were synthesized in a one-pot reaction between cis-[PtCl2(DMSO)2], silver malonate or silver cyclobutane-1,1-dicarboxylate and triazolopyrimidines. All platinum(II) compounds were characterized by FT-IR, and 1H, 13C, 15N and 195Pt NMR; and their square planar geometries with one monodentate N(3)-bonded 5,7-disubstituted-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine, one S-bonded molecule of dimethyl sulfoxide and one O,O-chelating malonato (1, 2) or O,O-chelating cyclobutane-1,1-dicarboxylato (3, 4) was determined. Additionally, [Pt(CBDC)(dbtp)(DMSO)] (3) exhibited (i) substantial in vitro cytotoxicity against the lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cell line (A549) (IC50 = 5.00 µM) and the cisplatin-resistant human ductal breast epithelial tumor cell line (T47D) (IC50 = 6.60 µM); and (ii) definitely exhibited low toxicity against normal murine embryonic fibroblast cells (BALB/3T3).

To evaluate the antioxidant activity of potential synthetic enzyme mimetics, we prepared new five copper(II) complexes via a self-assembly method and named them [Cu(2-(HOCH2)py)3](ClO4)2 (1), [Cu(2-(HOCH2)py)2(H2O)2]SiF6 (2), [Cu2(2-(HOCH2CH2)py)2(2-(OCH2CH2)py)2](ClO4)2 (3), [Cu(pyBIm)3](BF4)2·1.5H2O (4) and [Cu(py2C(OH)2)2](ClO4)2 (5). The synthetic protocol involved N,O- or N,N-donors: 2-(hydroxymethyl)pyridine (2-(HOCH2)py), 2-(hydroxyethyl)pyridine (2-(HOCH2CH2)py), 2-(2-pyridyl)benzimidazole (pyBIm), di(2-pyridyl)ketone (py2CO). The obtained Cu(II) complexes were fully characterised by elemental analysis, FTIR, EPR, UV-Vis, single-crystal X-ray diffraction and Hirshfeld surface analysis. Crystallographic and spectroscopic analyses confirmed chromophores of both monomeric ({CuN3O3} (1), {CuN2O4} (2), {CuN6} (4), {CuN4O2} (5)) and dimeric complex ({CuN2O3} (3)). Most of the obtained species possessed a distorted octahedral environment, except dimer 3, which consisted of two copper centres with square pyramidal geometries. The water-soluble compounds (1, 3 and 5) were selected for biological testing. The results of the study revealed that complex 1 in solutions displayed better radical scavenging activity than complexes 3, 5 and free ligands. Therefore, complex 1 has been selected for further studies to test its activity as an enzyme mimetic. The chosen compound was tested on the erythrocyte lysate of two groups of patients after undergoing chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy. The effect of the tested compound (1) on enzyme activity levels (TAS, SOD and CAT) suggests that the selected complex can be treated as a functional mimetic of the enzymes.