Half-sandwich complexes of precious metals are a versatile class of organometallic compounds, due to their ease of access, robustness and air-stability. These unique properties make them useful for many applications such as catalysis and anticancer drug development. Half-sandwich complexes generally follow the 18-electron rule, although some stable 16-electron (16-e) complexes have been isolated. The latter are generally coordinatively unsaturated leading to potential applications in catalysis and as precursors for 18-electron (18-e) complexes. We have recently reported the unusual solution chemistry and thermochromic properties of some electron-deficient half-sandwich carborane-Ru/Os complexes. In this presentation, we will discuss the synthesis of a novel family of electron-deficient half-sandwich complexes based on dithio-benzene chelating ligands and their properties in solution. The <i>in vitro</i> activities of both carborane- and dithio-benzene-containing 16-e metal complexes towards colon cancer cell lines HCT116 +/+ (with p53) and HCT116 -/- (without p53) will be presented and structure-activity relationships will be discussed.

Electron-deficient organometallic compounds: Potential anticancer drug candidates against human colon cancer

254th National Meeting (2017)

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