The successful use of cisplatin and its derivatives clearly exemplifies the important role of metal-based compounds in cancer therapy. This review illustrates the antitumor properties of cyclometalated compounds of metals from groups 8, 9, and 10.

C–H bond activation is a crucial synthetic strategy widely utilized in both academic and industrial settings. Due to the strong and kinetically inert nature of the C–H bond, its functionalization typically requires metal-based catalysts. This review highlights the most significant advancements in homogeneously catalyzed reactions using pincer complexes with metals from groups 8–10, capable of promoting challenging C–H activation, published since 2010. In particular, it focuses on C–H bond activation for borylation, isomerization, and dehydrogenation, among other processes, discussing their scope and mechanistic insights.

Three new POCOP-Ni( ii ) pincer complexes including methylphthalimide were obtained & their cytotoxic activity explored on six cancer cell lines. Ethidium bromide displacement & molecular docking studies showed these complexes to intercalate with DNA.

Iminophosphine ligands find extensive applications in homogeneous catalysis; however, their potential antitumor activity is currently being explored. Including biologically active moieties, such as aminoalcohols, could enhance this activity further. Therefore, we have synthesised a novel series of Pd(II) and Pt(II) iminophosphine complexes incorporating aminoalcohols as biologically active moieties to explore the potential of enhancing this activity. The series of Pd(II) complexes includes complexes 2a, 2f, and 2h, which were previously reported by our research group as catalysts in Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reaction in aqueous media. Besides their complete characterisation, some structures have been unequivocally corroborated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD). To evaluate the cytotoxic potential of the complexes, a preliminary in vitro study was conducted on different cancerous cell lines, including using COS-7 cells as a healthy cell line. Notably, complexes 2e, 2f, and 3b exhibited selectivity towards human chronic myelogenous leukaemia (K562), demonstrating IC₅₀ values of 7.73 ± 1.4 µM, 8.53 ± 1.9 µM, and 8.83 ± 1.5 µM, respectively. Remarkably, the selectivity of these complexes surpassed that of cisplatin. Furthermore, in silico analysis indicated a higher binding energy of these complexes to DNA when compared to cisplatin.

En la actualidad, el interés por los compuestos organometálicos ha aumentado significativamente debido a sus diversas aplicaciones. Entre ellos, los compuestos pinza destacan por su alta estabilidad, lo que los hace ideales como catalizadores y para el desarrollo de metalofármacos. Esta revisión explora aspectos clave de estos compuestos, incluyendo las rutas sintéticas para su obtención, una descripción detallada de su estructura y las contribuciones de nuestro grupo de investigación en catálisis homogénea, electrocatálisis y química medicinal, empleando compuestos pinza POCOP para-funcionalizados.

The use of pincer complexes based on platinum group metals is undoubtedly one of the most widely applied strategies today for the design of homogeneous catalysts in various chemical transformations, owing to their high stability and facile functionalization. This review aims to cover the advances achieved so far in homogeneous catalytic reactions using pincer complexes with platinum group metals (Ru, Os, Rh, Ir, Pd, and Pt), specifically in acceptorless dehydrogenation, hydrogenation, hydrogen storage, and cross‐coupling reactions. Moreover, this review seeks to highlight the ligand–metal synergy and cooperation present in these systems, and how this enables the development of innovative, versatile, and efficient homogeneous catalysts that outperform known compounds, thereby contributing to greener chemical processes.