Transition Metal Ion Complexes of N-alkylguanines

The family of cisplatin and its analogues contains some of the most powerful anticancer drugs developed to date and, since their discovery, extensive efforts have been devoted to understand their mode of action. 9-Alkylguanines have featured widely in these studies as model nucleobases. This review describes both the synthesis and the chemical, biological and miscellaneous spectroscopic properties of a variety of transition metal ion (Pt, Pd, Ru, Os, Rh, Re, Tc, Zn, Cu, Cd) complexes of N-alkylguanines (mostly 9- alkylguanines) which have been reported in the literature principally within the 2003-2008 period. Special attention has been given to the acid-base properties of these complexes, where coordination to transition metal ions usually leads to significant acidification of the guaninyl N1-H proton, and its consequences