The enormous development of nanomaterials technology and the immediate response of many areas of science, research, and practice to their possible application has led to the publication of thousands of scientific papers, books, and reports. This vast amount of information requires careful classification and order, especially for specifically targeted practical needs. Therefore, the present review aims to summarize to some extent the role of iron oxide nanoparticles in biomedical research. Summarizing the fundamental properties of the magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, the review’s next focus was to classify research studies related to applying these particles for cancer diagnostics and therapy (similar to photothermal therapy, hyperthermia), in nano theranostics, multimodal therapy. Special attention is paid to research studies dealing with the opportunities of combining different nanomaterials to achieve optimal systems for biomedical application. In this regard, original data about the synthesis and characterization of nanolipidic magnetic hybrid systems are included as an example. The last section of the review is dedicated to the capacities of magnetite-based magnetic nanoparticles for the management of oncological diseases.

Magnetic nanosystems represent promising alternatives to the traditional diagnostic and treatment procedures available for different pathologies. In this work, a series of biological tests are proposed, aiming to validate a magnetic nanoplatform for Kaposi’s sarcoma treatment. The selected nanosystems were polyethylene glycol-coated iron oxide nanoparticles (MAG.PEG), which were prepared by the hydrothermal method. Physicochemical characterization was performed to verify their suitable physicochemical properties to be administered in vivo. Exhaustive biological assays were conducted, aiming to validate this platform in a specific biomedical field related to viral oncogenesis diseases. As a first step, the MAG.PEG cytotoxicity was evaluated in a cellular model of Kaposi’s sarcoma. By phase contrast microscopy, it was found that cell morphology remained unchanged regardless of the nanoparticles’ concentration (1–150 µg mL⁻¹). The results, arising from the crystal violet technique, revealed that the proliferation was also unaffected. In addition, cell viability analysis by MTS and neutral red assays revealed a significant increase in metabolic and lysosomal activity at high concentrations of MAG.PEG (100–150 µg mL⁻¹). Moreover, an increase in ROS levels was observed at the highest concentration of MAG.PEG. Second, the iron quantification assays performed by Prussian blue staining showed that MAG.PEG cellular accumulation is dose dependent. Furthermore, the presence of vesicles containing MAG.PEG inside the cells was confirmed by TEM. Finally, the MAG.PEG steering was achieved using a static magnetic field generated by a moderate power magnet. In conclusion, MAG.PEG at a moderate concentration would be a suitable drug carrier for Kaposi’s sarcoma treatment, avoiding adverse effects on normal tissues. The data included in this contribution appear as the first stage in proposing this platform as a suitable future theranostic to improve Kaposi’s sarcoma therapy.

Organotin compounds have shown a wide spectrum of biological effects and have been extensively studied as fungicides, bactericides, acaricides and wood preservative. A large number of papers have reported the use of organotin compounds as bacterial growth inhibitors. The biocide activity of tribenzyl- and dibenzyltin compounds has been informed, but the effect that the methoxyl group in the aromatic ring could have on the activity of the compounds has not been reported in previous literature. For that reason, we performed an in vitro qualitative assay, and evaluated the activity of benzyltri-n-butyltin (I) and 3,5-dimethoxybenzyltri-n-butyltin (II) against the growth of two bacterial strains: Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive) and Escherichia Coli (Gram-negative), using agar well diffusion method. In all cases Merck Art 5273 broth was employed. THF was used both as the solvent of choice for the organometallic compound (since the organotin compounds are not water soluble) and as a negative control. Different concentrations I and II were prepared and the activity was determined by measuring the diameter of the inhibition zone (in cm). The results proved not only that the Gram-positive strain is more susceptible to the inhibition growth effect of the organotin compounds evaluated, but also that 3,5-dimethoxybenzyltri-n-butyltin has higher antibacterial activity. According to this preliminary results we conclude that the presence of the methoxyl group in the aromatic ring would enhance the antibacterial activity of the organotin compound tested here.

Boronic acid and their esters are highly valuable compounds which have found extensive applications in organic and medicinal chemistry. Tartaric acid derived boronic ester have been used in asymmetric reductions of ketones with very good to excellent enantiomeric excess. For that reason we are interested in the synthesis of new boronic ester tartrate derivatives, in particular, in those which derive from diboronic acids. Our aim is to compare the results between mono and diboronic ester tartrate derivates. The synthesis of boronic esters from boronic acids and alcohols is an equilibrium which can be driven to the boronate product removing the water produced in the reaction by distillation with a Dean-Stark apparatus or by using dehydrating agents like CaH₂, MgSO₄ or molecular sieves. In this work, the boronic esters were synthesized by heating the reactants with a Dean-Stark apparatus or by the addition of CaH₂ or molecular sieves as dehydrating agents. The solvents of choice were toluene and THF. We present here the synthesis of some boronic esters derived from phenyl boronic acid, 9-anthracene boronic acid, 1,4-phenyldiboronic acid, 1,4-naphtalene diboronic acid and 9,10-anthracene diboronic acid using tartaric acid, dimethyl tartrate and dibenzyl tartrate as diols. NMR spectroscopic data of ¹H, ¹³C and ¹¹B are informed.

Chiral organotin halides and hydrides have been widely investigated as chiral inductors for asymmetric synthesis. They have been used in a variety of reactions such as ketone reduction, alpha bromo esters reduction, radical cyclization of aldehydes, among others. Several chiral organotin hydrides are reported in literature, but to the best of our knowledge none of them have two tin hydrides moieties. So that, we were interested in the synthesis of (4R,5R)-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxolane-4,5-bis(diphenylmethylstannane). The synthesis of this tin hydride was achieved in six steps starting from dimethyl-(L)-tartrate. The first attempt was to apply the new chiral organotin hydride in the reduction of prochiral ketones. We faced with several disadvantages in this reaction because stoichiometric amounts of the tin hydrides were needed to reduce ketones, and despite of this, the tin hydride was unable to reduce them completely. We decided to focus on the reduction of alpha bromo esters, inspired in the work of Metzger and co-workers. Alpha bromo esters can be reduced by using an organotin halide and NaCNBH3 as a source of hydride. In this condition, the organotin halide is used in catalytic amount. We permormed the reactions with 1, 5 and 10 mol% the organotin halide and the last conditions allowed the reaction to complete.