New studies of synthesis, characterization and antitumor activity of Pd(II) and Pt(II) complexes with S-allyl-L-cysteine

Abstract

Studies focused on the development of new metallodrugs have increased considerably in recent years due to the potential of application of such compounds in the medical field. These applications come from their structural characteristics and forms of interaction with biomolecules. Among some of the metals used in medicine are palladium and platinum, which in recent studies have shown to be promising in the synthesis of complexes with different biological activities. A good strategy in the synthesis of new metallodrugs is to combine the already known activities of some metals with those of bioactive ligands that can act in an additive or synergistic way in the treatment of a certain disease. Amino acids are a class of molecules that have biological activities of interest in the development of new agents with potential application in medicine. Furthermore, they are versatile from the point of view of coordination chemistry. In this project, the chosen ligand was S-allyl-L-cysteine, or deoxyaliin. This amino acid is present in foods consumed daily as garlic and onion, and there are reports in the literature about its biological activities, including antiproliferative action on some types of tumor cells. In our research group, this amino acid has been studied for more than a decade in the preparation of metal complexes and in the evaluation of its biological activities. Thus, the objective of this project is to re-synthesize the Pd(II) complex with deoxyaliin and carry out the synthesis and characterization of its novel Pt(II) analogue, in order to evaluate its activities on tumor cells. In this way, it will be possible to compare the activities of the Pt(II) complex with those already described about the Pd(II) one. (AU)