Tailoring NO donors metallopharmaceuticals: ruthenium nitrosyl ammines and aliphatic tetraazamacrocycles.

The discovery of the involvement of nitric oxide (NO) in several physiological and pathophysiological processes launched a spectacular increase in studies in areas such as chemistry, biochemistry, and pharmacology. As a consequence, the development of NO donors or scavengers for regulation of its concentration and bioavailability in vivo is required. In this sense, ruthenium nitrosyl ammines and aliphatic tetraazamacrocyles have attracted a lot of attention due to their unique chemical properties. These complexes are water soluble and stable in solution, not to mention that they can deliver NO when photochemically or chemically activated by the reduction of the coordinated nitrosonium (NO+). The tuning of the energies of the charge transfer bands, the redox potential, and the specific rate constants of NO liberation, in both solution and matrices, is desirable for the achievement of selective NO delivery to biological targets, hence making the ruthenium ammines and aliphatic tetraazamacrocyles a quite versatile platform for biological application purposes. These ruthenium nitrosyls have shown to be active in firing neurons in mouse hippocampus, performing redox reactions in mitochondria, acting in blood pressure control, exhibiting cytotoxic activities against trypanosomatids (T.cruzi and L.major) and tumor cells. This tailoring approach is explored here, being heavily supported by the accumulated knowledge on the chemistry and photochemistry of ruthenium complexes, which allows NO donors/scavengers systems to be custom made designed.

Functionalization of PAMAM dendrimers with [Ru(III)(edta)(H2O)](-).

The anchoring of K[Ru(III)(edta)(Cl)] on poly(amidoamine) dendrimers (PAMAM of three generations G(x)/Ru (x=0, 2 and 3)) through a peptide type bond yielded the aquo species, [Ru(III)(edta)(H2O)] on dendrimer surface, and upon NO exposure, yielded their nitrosyl analogues, G(x)/RuNO. Characterization of these compounds by elemental analysis, and a UV-vis, IR and 13C NMR spectroscopies indicated the immobilization of 4, 12 and 29 molecules of [Ru(III)(edta)(H2O)] or of the nitrosyl complex [Ru(II)(edta)NO] on the dendrimer surface for G(X)=0, 2 and 3, respectively. For each complex the electrochemical spectrum presented only one redox process with redox potential values of -0.20 and -0.32 V(vs SCE) attributed to the Ru(III)/Ru(II) and NO+/NO(0) couples in G(x)/Ru and G(x)/RuNO, respectively. The one-electron reduction of G(x)/RuNO+ generates G(x)/RuNO(0), which undergoes aquation with a k(-NO) of 2.1+/-0.7 x 10(-3)s(-1) (pH 1.0, mu=0.2 mol/L, CF3COOH/NaCF3COO, 25 degrees C). The G(x)/RuNO species induced a relaxing effect in aortic rings denuded of endothelium and exhibited in vitro assay trypanocidal activity.