Current Developments of N-Heterocyclic Carbene Au(I)/Au(III) Complexes toward Cancer Treatment

Alexia Tialiou; Jiamin Chin; Bernhard K Keppler; Michael R Reithofer

doi:10.3390/biomedicines10061417

Current Developments of N-Heterocyclic Carbene Au(I)/Au(III) Complexes toward Cancer Treatment

Biomedicines. 2022 Jun 15;10(6):1417. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines10061417.

Authors

Alexia Tialiou^{1

2}, Jiamin Chin³, Bernhard K Keppler^{1

4}, Michael R Reithofer¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Vienna, Währinger Str. 42, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
² Vienna Doctoral School in Chemistry (DoSChem), University of Vienna, Währinger Str. 42, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
³ Institute of Inorganic Chemistry-Functional Materials, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Vienna, Währinger Str. 42, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
⁴ Research Cluster "Translational Cancer Therapy Research", University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Str. 42, 1090 Vienna, Austria.

Abstract

Since their first discovery, N-heterocyclic carbenes have had a significant impact on organometallic chemistry. Due to their nature as strong σ-donor and π-acceptor ligands, they are exceptionally well suited to stabilize Au(I) and Au(III) complexes in biological environments. Over the last decade, the development of rationally designed NHCAu(I/III) complexes to specifically target DNA has led to a new "gold rush" in bioinorganic chemistry. This review aims to summarize the latest advances of NHCAu(I/III) complexes that are able to interact with DNA. Furthermore, the latest advancements on acyclic diamino carbene gold complexes with anticancer activity are presented as these typically overlooked NHC alternatives offer great additional design possibilities in the toolbox of carbene-stabilized gold complexes for targeted therapy.

Keywords: DNA; G-quadruplex; N-heterocyclic carbenes; NHC; cancer; gold complexes.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

P-34662/FWF Austrian Science Fund