Abstract
The rich coordination chemistry of transition metal complexes makes them appealing for a broad range of catalytic and biological applications. Activation of small molecules has traditionally been the domain of transition metal complexes which provide lower barrier pathways and better selectivity. This ability may come from the electronic unsaturation of metal complexes induced by the coordination of bulky ligands. Several bimetallic Ni-Sn complexes containing inexpensive nickel and bulky tin ligands were synthesized and their photochemical properties as well as their reactivity towards activation of small molecules were explored. Metal complexes offer an extremely versatile and reliable tool for the development of compounds with a wide variety of biological and medicinal applications. A new Schiff base ligand containing morpholine moiety and its transition metal complexes were synthesized and their anticancer activities against three different cancer cell lines were investigated. The results showed that these compounds are highly effective against cancer cells. The silver complex, [AgL(NO3)] was the most effective compound showing the highest cytotoxicity against tested cancer cell lines. This compound was about three times more effective than cisplatin (a commercially available drug used for chemotherapy) against MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells.The reactivity of 16-electron unsaturated complex, Ni(η2-TEMPO)2 towards C-H bond activation on two organic substrates including 9,10-dihydroanthracene (DHA) and 1,4-cyclohexadiene (CHD) was also investigated at different temperatures.