ABSTRACT
The chemistry of gold complexes presents some peculiar aspects that have been ascribed to the occurrence of important relativistic effects. In the last two decades a number of new gold complexes have been prepared and investigated as potential antitumor and anti-HIV drugs. Following the clinical success of platinum complexes, gold compounds have been seriously taken into consideration as potential antitumor agents. The investigations by Mirabelli et al. demonstrated unambiguously that the most potent class of gold(I) compounds in terms of anticancer properties was that containing both phosphine and thioglucose ligands. Preliminary mechanistic studies have suggested that DNA is likely not the primary target so that alternative biomolecular targets are actively searched for. We are convinced that the design of new anticancer gold(I) complexes may greatly profit from a deeper understanding of the biochemical mechanism. Spectrophotometric measurements in the visible of these gold(III) polyamine complexes demonstrated their appreciable stability, even under physiological conditions.
