OSW

SIGNATURE WORK
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2024

Synthesis ANS Characterization of Rhenium(I) Tricarbonyl Diamine Complexes for Potential Anticancer and Bioimaging Applications

Name

Yixi Cheng

Major

Molecular Bioscience / Cell and Molecular Biology

Class

2024

About

Synthesis and characterization of rhenium(I) tricarbonyl bisimine complexes as potential anticancer agents.

Signature Work Project Overview

The objective of this research was to synthesize and characterize rhenium(I) carbon-monoxide releasing molecules (CORMs) containing a phenanthroline-imidazole ligand, as well as to investigate their in vitro anticancer activity. Previous research showed that such rhenium(I) tricarbonyl complexes hold promise as anticancer agents, which can circumvent cisplatin resistance and induce cell death via a novel pathway. Four new phenanthroline-imidazole ligands were synthesized using 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione together with different para-substituted benzaldehydes and anilines in an innovative microwave method. Then these ligands were ligated onto a rhenium(I) tricarbonyl motif, also through a similarly novel microwave method, to produce complexes following the formula [Re(CO)3L2Cl]. These complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, NMR, UV-Vis, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The complexes showed the expected peak pattern in the 1800 – 2100 cm-1range associated with a facial arrangement of the three carbonyls. According to the results from UV-Vis spectroscopy, the excitation wavelengths in fluorescence spectroscopy were set to 280 or 285 nm, and the emission wavelengths were mainly observed at ~400 nm and ~570 nm. The photochemistry study indicated that these complexes are photo-CORMs, which are able to release CO under irradiation with light of different wavelengths. Notably, one complex demonstrated significant inhibition against breast cancer cell line MCF-7.

Signature Work Presentation Video