Synthesis, characterisation and in vitro evaluation of palladium(II) iminophosphine complexes for anticancer activity

Palladium(II) complexes have been obtained from the reactions of the iminophosphine ligands, (L1–L7), respectively, with [PdCl₂(COD)] and [PdMeCl(COD)] in CH₂Cl₂ at room temperature. The palladium(II) complexes were characterised using elemental analysis, electro spray ionisation–mass spectrometry (ESI–MS), NMR (¹H and ³¹P), IR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction studies. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis for complexes 2, 7 and 8 revealed that the complexes exhibited a slightly distorted square planar geometry. In vitro cytotoxic study results show that the palladium complexes exhibit moderate activity and block the proliferation of WHCO1 cells with an IC₅₀ range of 19.02–45.27 μM, and IC₅₀ range of 10.03–68.54 μM for the KYSE450 cell lines.     

New iron bis(imino)pyridyl complexes containing dendritic wedges for alkene oligomerisation

The synthesis, characterisation and catalytic behaviour of new iron bis(imino)pyridyl complexes containing dendritic wedges, as well as the synthesis of bis(para-hydroxyphenylimino)pyridines is described. The hydroxyl functionality of the bis(para-hydroxyphenylimino)pyridines was used to attach dendritic wedges of the carbosilane type as well as the benzylphenyl ether type. After attachment of the dendritic wedges, complexation of these ligands to iron(II) chloride was achieved. The resulting dendritically functionalised bis(imino)pyridyl iron complexes were tested in the catalytic oligomerisation of ethene.     

Lithiated dimethylaminomethyl ferrocenes and ruthenocenes

Dimethylaminomethylferrocenyl lithium and -ruthenocenyl lithium were generated using tin/lithium exchange reactions. The four different metallocenyl lithium compounds were analysed using NMR spectroscopy. The metallocenyl lithium reagents are useful reagents and have been shown to react with MeOD, ClSiMe₃ and DMF to give air-stable derivatives.     

Expanding the synthesis of Stöber spheres: towards the synthesis of nano-magnesium oxide and nano-zinc oxide

In order to synthesise Stöber spheres of different diameters, fixed amounts of ethanol, ammonia and water were used with varying amounts of tetraethyl orthosilicate. This simple method was further applied to the synthesis of nano-ZnO and nano-MgO from their respective precursors, zinc methoxide and magnesium ethoxide. The spherical nano-SiO₂, nano-ZnO and nano-MgO synthesised in this way were characterised by X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Preliminary investigations found that nano-ZnO and nano-MgO showed good catalytic activity in the trans-esterification reaction that converts vegetable oil to biodiesel.     

A crystallographic and DFT study on Vaska-type trans-[Rh(CO)Cl(PR3)2] complexes containing flexible ligands: The molecular structure of trans-[Rh(CO)Cl{P(OC6H5)3}2]

An investigation into the effect of the flexibility of substituents on the disorder of the Cl-Rh-CO moiety in Vaska-type trans-[Rh(CO)Cl(PR₃)₂] complexes is presented. The influence of the packing of the complexes with PR₃ = P(CH₂C₆H₅)₃, P(OC₆H₅)₃, P(O-2-MeC₆H₄)₃ and P(O-2,6-Me₂C₆H₃)₃ was evaluated by comparing the X-ray structures with the results of DFT calculations on these complexes. Reasonable agreement between the calculated and molecular structures was found. A good agreement, however, was found between the calculated and crystallographic structures when comparing the coordination polyhedron around the Rh atom. The main difference between the calculated and solid state structures appeared to be in the orientation of the phenyl groups of the P-donor ligands.     

Synthesis, crystal structure and hydroformylation activity of triphenylphosphite modified cobalt catalysts

The dinuclear complex [Co(2)(CO)(6)[P(OPh)3]2] (2) has been synthesised and was fully characterised. The solid state structure revealed a trans diaxial geometry, no bridging carbonyls, and Co-Co and Co-P bond lengths of 2.6722(4) and 2.1224(4) Angstrom, respectively. Catalysed hydroformylation of 1-pentene with 2 was attempted at temperatures in the range 120 to 210 degrees C and pressures between 34 and 80 bar. High pressure spectroscopy (HP-IR and HP-NMR) was used to detect hydride intermediates. High pressure infrared (HP-IR) studies revealed the formation of [HCo(CO)(3)P(OPh)3] (4) at ca. 110 degrees C, but at higher temperatures absorption bands corresponding to [HCo(CO)(4)]() were observed. The hydride intermediate 4 has also been synthesised and characterised. Upon increased ligand concentration, HP-IR studies showed the formation of new carbonyl absorption bands due to a higher substituted cobalt carbonyl complex-[HCo(CO)(2)[P(OPh)3]2] (5), which is believed to be catalytically less active. Complex 5 has been synthesised independently and was fully characterised. A low temperature crystal structural study of 5 revealed a trigonal bipyramidal structure with a trans H-Co-CO arrangement and two equatorial phosphite ligands, the Co-P bond lengths being 2.1093(8) and 2.1076(8)[Angstrom], respectively.     

Hydrozirconation of first-generation allyl-functionalized dendrimers and dendrimer model compounds

Several allyl-functionalized dendrimers and mono-functional model compounds have been prepared. These have been hydrozirconated using [Cp₂ZrHCl]_x to give zirconocene terminated dendrimers. These dendrimers have been characterized using spectroscopic techniques, particularly NMR.     

Fully automated isotopic dimethyl labeling and phosphopeptide enrichment using a microfluidic HPLC phosphochip

Quantitative detection of phosphorylation levels is challenging and requires an expertise in both stable isotope labeling as well as enrichment of phosphorylated peptides. Recently, a microfluidic device incorporating a nanoliter flow rate reversed phase column as well as a titania (TiO₂) enrichment column was released. This HPLC phosphochip allows excellent recovery and separation of phosphorylated peptides in a robust and reproducible manner with little user intervention. In this work, we have extended the abilities of this chip by defining the conditions required for on-chip stable isotope dimethyl labeling allowing for automated quantitation. The resulting approach will make quantitative phosphoproteomics more accessible.

An efficient heterogeneous catalytic system for chemoselective hydrogenation of unsaturated ketones in aqueous medium

A highly chemoselective and green heterogeneous catalytic system of immobilized Ru(II)–phenanthroline complexes on amino functionalised MCM-41 material for the chemoselective hydrogenation of unsaturated ketones to unsaturated alcohols is demonstrated using water as a solvent. The XRD and FTIR spectra show the highly ordered hexagonal nature of the MCM-41, even after encapsulation of the ruthenium complex. The complex retains its configuration after anchoring, as was confirmed by FTIR and UV–Vis analysis. The detailed reaction parametric effect was studied for the hydrogenation of 3-methylpent-3-en-2-one to achieve complete conversion up to >99% chemoselectivity of 3-methylpent-3-en-2-ol. The anchored heterogeneous catalysts were recycled effectively and reused five times with marginal changes in activity and selectivity. The use of water as a solvent not only afforded high activity for the hydrogenation reaction compared to organic solvents, but also afforded a green process.