Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Metal-Ligand Bonds

Metal-Ligand Bonds

The hemoglobin in the blood, the chlorophyll in green plants, vitamin B-12, and the catalyst used in the manufacture of polyethylene all contain coordination compounds. Ions of the metals, especially the transition metals, are likely to form complexes.
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...

Complexation Equilibria: The Chelate Effect

Complexation Equilibria: The Chelate Effect

In complexation reactions, metal atoms or cations interact with ligands to form donor-acceptor adducts called metal complexes. Ligands that bind through one donor site are monodentate, ligands with two donor sites are bidentate, and those with more than two donor sites are polydentate ligands. For example, ethylene diamine is a bidentate ligand that binds through two nitrogen donor atoms, forming a five-membered ring. EDTA is a polydentate ligand that binds through four oxygen and two nitrogen...

Valence Bond Theory

Valence Bond Theory

Coordination compounds and complexes exhibit different colors, geometries, and magnetic behavior, depending on the metal atom/ion and ligands from which they are composed. In an attempt to explain the bonding and structure of coordination complexes, Linus Pauling proposed the valence bond theory, or VBT, using the concepts of hybridization and the overlapping of the atomic orbitals. According to VBT, the central metal atom or ion (Lewis acid) hybridizes to provide empty orbitals of suitable...

Stereoisomerism

Stereoisomerism

Isomerism in Complexes
Isomers are different chemical species that have the same chemical formula.
Transition metal complexes often exist as geometric isomers, in which the same atoms are connected through the same types of bonds but with differences in their orientation in space. Coordination complexes with two different ligands in the cis and trans positions from a ligand of interest form isomers. For example, the octahedral [Co(NH3)4Cl2]+ ion has two isomers (Figure 1) In the cis...

Coordination Number and Geometry

Coordination Number and Geometry

For transition metal complexes, the coordination number determines the geometry around the central metal ion. Table 1 compares coordination numbers to molecular geometry. The most common structures of the complexes in coordination compounds are octahedral, tetrahedral, and square planar.

EDTA: Chemistry and Properties

EDTA: Chemistry and Properties

Polydentate ligands are most widely used in complexometric titrations because they form more stable complexes with the metal ions than mono- or bidentate ligands due to the chelate effect. Examples of polydentate ligands are ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), crown ethers, and cryptands. The most important feature of optimal polydentate ligands is the ability to form 1:1 complexes in a single-step process. Amino carboxylic acid derivatives are frequently used as complexing agents. EDTA is...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Highly covalent, pseudo-octahedral Ru(II) bis(amides): panchromatic absorption and low-energy photocatalysis.

Chemical communications (Cambridge, England)·2026

Same author

Deep red photocatalysis <i>via</i> direct S<sub>0</sub> → T<sub>1</sub> excitation of an Ir(iii) complex using 740 nm light.

Chemical science·2026

Same author

Resolving consecutive excited-state evolution in Fe-amido chromophores by wide-band optical transient absorption spectroscopy.

Chemical science·2026

Same author

Excited-state structural conformations of Fe-amido photosensitizers revealed by picosecond X-ray absorption spectroscopy.

Chemical communications (Cambridge, England)·2025

Same author

A tetradentate benzannulated P^N^N^P ligand and its Fe(II) complex: synthesis, characterization, and electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

Dalton transactions (Cambridge, England : 2003)·2025

Same author

NIR-Activatable, Sequence-Specific Metal-Nucleic Acid Scaffolds for Responsive Uncaging.

Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English)·2025

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 23, 2025

Amide Coupling Reaction for the Synthesis of Bispyridine-based Ligands and Their Complexation to Platinum as Dinuclear Anticancer Agents

Amide Coupling Reaction for the Synthesis of Bispyridine-based Ligands and Their Complexation to Platinum as Dinuclear Anticancer Agents

Published on: May 28, 2014

Monofunctional platinum(ii) anticancer complexes based on multidentate phenanthridine-containing ligand frameworks.

Issiah B Lozada¹, Bin Huang¹, Morgan Stilgenbauer²

¹Department of Chemistry and the Manitoba Institute for Materials, University of Manitoba, 144 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2, Canada.

Dalton Transactions (Cambridge, England : 2003)

|April 29, 2020

Summary

New platinum(II) complexes with phenanthridine ligands show improved anticancer activity and safety compared to existing drugs. These novel compounds offer a promising therapeutic index for cancer treatment.

More Related Videos

Author Spotlight: Experimental Approaches for the Synthesis of Low-Valent Metal-Organic Frameworks from Multitopic Phosphine Linkers

Author Spotlight: Experimental Approaches for the Synthesis of Low-Valent Metal-Organic Frameworks from Multitopic Phosphine Linkers

Published on: May 12, 2023

The Synthesis, Characterization and Reactivity of a Series of Ruthenium N-triphosPh Complexes

The Synthesis, Characterization and Reactivity of a Series of Ruthenium N-triphosPh Complexes

Published on: April 10, 2015

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Dec 23, 2025

Amide Coupling Reaction for the Synthesis of Bispyridine-based Ligands and Their Complexation to Platinum as Dinuclear Anticancer Agents

Amide Coupling Reaction for the Synthesis of Bispyridine-based Ligands and Their Complexation to Platinum as Dinuclear Anticancer Agents

Published on: May 28, 2014

Author Spotlight: Experimental Approaches for the Synthesis of Low-Valent Metal-Organic Frameworks from Multitopic Phosphine Linkers

Author Spotlight: Experimental Approaches for the Synthesis of Low-Valent Metal-Organic Frameworks from Multitopic Phosphine Linkers

Published on: May 12, 2023

The Synthesis, Characterization and Reactivity of a Series of Ruthenium N-triphosPh Complexes

The Synthesis, Characterization and Reactivity of a Series of Ruthenium N-triphosPh Complexes

Published on: April 10, 2015

Area of Science:

Medicinal Chemistry
Inorganic Chemistry
Cancer Biology

Background:

Phenanthriplatin is a key preclinical anticancer platinum complex.
Its efficacy stems from a phenanthridine ligand enabling DNA intercalation and covalent binding.
There is a need for platinum complexes with enhanced therapeutic indices.

Purpose of the Study:

To synthesize and evaluate novel platinum(II) complexes.
To investigate the in vitro therapeutic index of these new complexes.
To compare their efficacy against established platinum-based drugs like phenanthriplatin and cisplatin.

Main Methods:

Synthesis of platinum(II) complexes featuring phenanthridine within chelating, multidentate ligand scaffolds.
In vitro evaluation of cytotoxicity and therapeutic index.
Comparative analysis against phenanthriplatin and cisplatin.

Main Results:

The novel Pt(II) complexes demonstrated a superior in vitro therapeutic index.
These complexes incorporate phenanthridine into advanced ligand structures.
The enhanced index suggests improved efficacy and/or reduced toxicity compared to controls.

Conclusions:

Chelating, multidentate phenanthridine-containing Pt(II) complexes represent a promising advancement in anticancer drug development.
These novel compounds exhibit a superior therapeutic index over current standards.
Further preclinical and clinical studies are warranted to explore their full therapeutic potential.