Organometallic compounds, long used for industrial use and research purposes, have emerged as a promising source for cancer drugs. Chemists at RUDN University have discovered a new formation mechanism of organophosphorus complexes with metal, a finding that may help in the synthesis of new anti-cancer drugs. The findings were reported in the Journal of Organometallic Chemistry.
The scientists were exploring rhenium (Re) metal complexes for their use as anti-cancer drugs. These can be used to create complexes with CO ligands that can release CO and destroy cancer cells; they are also commonly used in infrared spectromicroscopy of cells.
The authors selected vinylidene complexes of manganese (Mn) and rhenium (Re) as starting materials, that joined trivalent phosphorous in a combination reaction and traced the intermediates and final products of the reaction using spectroscopic method.
The team was able to demonstrate how the desired compounds form, through a mechanism different than the Michaelis-Arbuzov reaction mechanism that was previously expected. These findings may expand the kinds of organometallic compounds that can be created in the future.
Image: This is one of the cymantrene derivatives used in the study. Image courtesy of Alexander Smol'yakov.