Development of tris-cyclometalated iridium complexes for cellular imaging through structural modification

Meksawangwong, Sureemas; Gohil, Bhavini; Punyain, Wikorn; Pal, Robert; Kielar, Filip

Abstract

Herein we report the synthesis and investigation of two novel tris-cyclometalated iridium complexes derived from [Ir(ppy)3] and bearing an aminoalkyl substituent on one of the 2-phenylpyridine ligands. These complexes differ in the number of the alkyl substituents of the aminoalkyl group. Specifically, the complexes reported herein contain one (1) and two (2) 2-hydroxy ethyl groups on the nitrogen atom. Both complexes retain the good photophysical properties reported for earlier versions of this group of tris-cyclometalated iridium complexes. However, the differences in the substitution results in changes in the responsive photoluminescence behavior in aqueous solutions. Live cell microscopy experiments revealed that complexes can localize in NIH-3T3 cells. Finally, it has been observed that the complex containing two 2-hydroxy ethyl groups is less cytotoxic than the it’s mono-substituted counterpart

Citation

Meksawangwong, S., Gohil, B., Punyain, W., Pal, R., & Kielar, F. (2020). Development of tris-cyclometalated iridium complexes for cellular imaging through structural modification. Inorganica Chimica Acta, 508, Article 119609. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ica.2020.119609

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 19, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Mar 20, 2020
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Mar 22, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 20, 2021
• Journal: Inorganica Chimica Acta
• Print ISSN: 0020-1693
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-3255
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 508
• Article Number: 119609
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ica.2020.119609
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1267668