Ruthenium Complexes are pH- Activated Metallo Prodrugs Due to Photodissociation in Acidic Cancerous Cells

Undergraduate #179
Discipline: Chemistry and Chemical Sciences
Subcategory: Chemistry (not Biochemistry)

Sydney Reed - University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
Co-Author(s): John Lundeen, Fengrui Qu, and Eliabeth Papish, University of Alabama

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Chemotherapy is a toxic drug used to kill cancerous cells. Chemo is not limited to malignant cells, but healthy ones as well. It has many side effects such as nausea and even hair loss. Cancer cells are more acidic than healthy cells. Most tumors are hypoxic and have decreased pH. The goal is to form anticancer drugs that selectivity targets cancer cells activated by low pH and light. Three Ruthenium compounds, [Ru (bpy)₂(6,6’-dhbp)]2 cl, [(phen)₂ Ru (6,6’- dhbp)] 2 cl, [(dop) ₂Ru(6,6’-dhbp)] 2 cl all of which are activated by low pH values and light. For each compound, to determine the pKa, Potentiometric titration was done to get the values. The pka helps determine when the compound will change forms to active or inactive in aqueous solutions. Also do photodissocation at different pH using a phosphate buffer and diluted NaOH and HCl to determine the half-life of our compounds. The results of each experiment help determine if the compound will become active/inactive and how long it will take.

Funder Acknowledgement(s): National Science Foundation

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Wangila, wangilag@uapb.edu

Role: For my research, I conducted photodissociation on Ruthenium complexes using the UV-Vis Spectrometer to determine the half-lives of the compound. The Ruthenium compounds were light sensitive and low pH activated. I tested the compound in aqueous solutions in a dark room using a uv blue light panel for 3 hours. Each experiment was tested three times, before the average was taken. I analyzed all data using excel to create graphs.