Straightforward synthetic route to gold(I)-thiolato glycoconjugate complexes bearing NHC ligands (NHC = N-heterocyclic carbene) and their promising anticancer activity

Mauro Safir-Filho (1) , Thomas Scattolin (2) , Pascal Dao (1) , Nikolaos V Tzouras (2) , Rachid Benhida (1) , Marina Saab (2) , Kristof van Hecke (2) , Petra Lippmann (3) , Anthony R. Martin (4) , Ingo Ott (3) , Steven P Nolan (2)

1 ICN - Institut de Chimie de Nice
2 UGENT - Universiteit Gent = Ghent University
3 Technische Universität Braunschweig = Technical University of Braunschweig [Braunschweig]
4 IBMM - Institut des Biomolécules Max Mousseron [Pôle Chimie Balard]

A simple and eco-friendly route to gold-NHC complexes bearing different thiosugars is reported. The reaction between [Au(NHC)Cl] precursors, the thiosugars and a weak base proceeds under air using technical grade acetone under mild conditions (60 °C, 1h). The one-pot synthesis of the same complexes starting from the corresponding imidazolium salts was also investigated. The obtained complexes showed strong cytotoxic activities against selected cancer cell lines with IC50 values in the submicromolar to low micromolar concentration range.

Domaines: Chimie de coordination; Chimie thérapeutique

Mauro Safir-Filho, Thomas Scattolin, Pascal Dao, Nikolaos V Tzouras, Rachid Benhida, et al.. Straightforward synthetic route to gold(I)-thiolato glycoconjugate complexes bearing NHC ligands (NHC = N-heterocyclic carbene) and their promising anticancer activity. New Journal of Chemistry, inPress, ⟨10.1039/D1NJ02117F⟩. ⟨hal-03225368⟩