Ruthenium and Copper Complexes for Anti-Cancer and Catalytic Applications

Abstract
This thesis details the synthesis, characterisation and evaluation of novel β-bis-ketoiminate ruthenium(II) and β-bis-ketoiminate copper(II) complexes for their biological and chemical applications. The anti-cancer, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal and catalytic activity of these complexes was investigated, with lead complexes undergoing further mechanistic investigations.
Chapter 1 contains the background introduction to the project, through literature research of similar work as well as the aims of this project.
Chapter 2 presents the synthesis and characterisation of novel β-bis-ketoiminate ruthenium(II) dicarbonyl complexes. 1H NMR, 13C {1H} NMR and detailed X-ray crystallographic data are given for this series of complexes.
Chapter 3 introduces novel β-bis-ketoiminate copper(II) complexes, their synthesis and characterisation, with X-ray crystallographic data discussed.
Chapter 4 introduces the MTT technique for assessing cytotoxicity, and discusses the anti-cancer activities of the series of complexes synthesised in Chapters 2 and 3. In addition, the chapter gives a brief literature review to anti-bacterial and anti-microbial studies, and the results of anti-bacterial and anti-fungal investigations on the β-bis-ketoiminate ruthenium(II) and copper(II) complexes.
Chapter 5 presents the results of chemical investigations, hydrolysis and biomembrane, conducted on the two libraries of complexes.
Chapter 6 contains a brief literature review on catalysis, and the results for transfer hydrogenation and Ullmann catalytic reactions on β-bis-ketoiminate ruthenium(II) complexes and β-bis-ketoiminate copper(II) complexes respectively.
Chapter 7 contains experimental details and characterisation data for all the complexes synthesised within this thesis, and protocols for all the biological and chemical studies.
Appendix presents a summary of X-ray crystallographic structure analysis for all the crystal structures reported within this thesis.