Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
4
Supramolecular Chemistry of
Metal - Nucleobase Complexes
P. J. Sanz Miguel , P. Amo - Ochoa , O. Castillo ,
A. Houlton and F. Zamora *
4.1 Introduction
Studies of the interaction of metal ions with nucleic acids are central to bioinorganic
chemistry and this area continues to be actively researched. As well as providing
valuable insight into the mode of action of numerous metal-containing drugs (e.g.
cis
-platin), understanding these interactions has provided opportunities for exploit-
ing the nucleobases as highly versatile ligands. The basic coordination chemistry of
these purine and pyrimidine derivatives has been summarized in several reviews.
1
During the last four decades, more than 600 metal-nucleobase complexes have been
prepared and crystallographically characterized. The number of crystal structures
reported to date for metal ions with nucleobases as ligands has increased dramati-
cally in recent years refl ecting the great interest in these materials (Figure 4.1).
The structural characteristics of nucleobases allow extension beyond basic coordina-
tion chemistry towards larger, more complex, molecular architectures based on the
formation of supramolecules. Two broad types of supramolecules are of particular
interest in the development of new discrete and infi nite structures; fi rstly those
formed exclusively through coordinate bond formation involving the nucleobases
and, secondly, supramolecules which self-assemble through complementary H-
bonding of nucleobases acting as ligands to metal centres.
2
