Yes / The problems of acquired resistance associated with platinum drugs may be addressed by chemotherapeutics based on other transition metals as they offer the possibility of novel mechanisms of action. In this study, the cellular uptake and induction of apoptosis in A549 human non-small cell lung cancer cells of three promising osmium(II) arene complexes containing azopyridine ligands,[Os(Z6-arene)( p-R-phenylazopyridine)X]PF6, where arene is p-cymene or biphenyl, R is OH or NMe2, and X is Cl or I, were investigated. These complexes showed time-dependent (4–48 h) potent anticancer activity with highest potency after 24 h (IC50 values ranging from 0.1 to 3.6 mM). Cellular uptake of the three compounds as quantified by ICP-MS, was independent of their log P values (hydrophobicity). Furthermore, maximum cell uptake was observed after 24 h, with evident cell efflux of the osmium after 48 and 72 h of exposure, which correlated with the corresponding IC50 values. The most active compound 2, [Os(Z6-p-cymene)(NMe2-phenylazopyridine)I]PF6, was taken up by lung cancer cells pre-dominately in a temperature-dependent manner indicating that energy-dependent mechanisms are important in the uptake of 2. Cell fractionation studies showed that all three compounds accumulated mainly in cellular membranes. Furthermore, compound 2 induced apoptosis and caused accumulation in the S-phase of the cell cycle. In addition, 2 induced cytochrome c release and alterations in mito-chondrial membrane potential even after short exposure times, indicating that mitochondrial apoptotic pathways are involved. This study represents the first steps towards understanding the mode of action of this promising class of new osmium-based chemotherapeutics.

Yes / We have synthesised osmium nanoparticles of defined size (1.5–50 nm) on a B- and S-doped turbostratic graphitic structure by electron-beam irradiation of an organometallic osmium complex encapsulated in self-spreading polymer micelles, and characterised them by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution TEM (HRTEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) on the same grid. Oxidation of the osmium nanoparticles after exposure to air was detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). / We thank the Leverhulme Trust (Early Career Fellowship No. ECF-2013-414 to NPEB), the University of Warwick (Grant No. RD14102 to NPEB), the ERC (Grant No. 247450 to PJS), and the EPSRC (EP/F034210/1 to PJS). L.M.A.P., J.L., and G.C. acknowledge financial support from the EU through the ERC Consolidator Grant “VISUAL-MS”.

Yes / The fabrication of precious metal (ruthenium, osmium, gold, and iridium) nanocrystals from single atoms has been studied in real-time. The dynamics of the first stage of the metal nanocrystallisation on a doped (B,S)-graphitic surface are identified, captured, and reported. / We thank the Leverhulme Trust (Early Career Fellowship No. ECF-2013-414 to NPEB), the ERC (Grant No. 247450 to PJS), EPSRC (EP/F034210/1 to PJS).

Nanoscience dominates almost all areas of science and technology in the 21st century. Nanoparticles are of fundamental interest since they possess unique size dependent properties (optical, electrical, mechanical, chemical, magnetic etc.), which are quite different from the bulk and the atomic state. The research work presented in the thesis is on the preparation, characterization and studies on Ir, Os and graphene oxide-based systems. Interconnected Ir and Os nanochains are prepared under environmentally friendly conditions in aqueous media and subsequently used as substrates for surface enhanced Raman scaterring studies and also as electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction and formaldehyde oxidation. Ir and IrOx nanostructures are prepared using borohydride at different temperatures. The nature of interaction of heme proteins with IrOx is studied using spectroscopic techniques. Electrochemical studies on reduced graphene oxide include sensing of biomolecules with high sensitivity and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in aqueous alkaline medium. rGO is also used as support for anchoring Ir nanoparticles and the catalyst is used for the oxidation of benzyl amines to corresponding imines. The thesis is divided in to seven chapters and details are given below. Chapter 1 gives an introduction about the synthetic strategies and properties of metal nanostructures. This is followed by literature survey on Ir, Os and graphene oxide-based systems relevant to the present study. Aim and scope of the present investigation is given at the end. Chapter 2 discusses the experimental procedures and characterization techniques used in the present study. Chapter 3 involves the preparation, characterization and studies on interconnected Ir nanochains. Assemblies of small sized nanoparticles forming network-like structures have attracted enormous interest and different metal nanoassemblies have been reported using different procedures. Ir3+ reduction is kinetically not a very favourable process and hence there are not many attempts to synthesize Ir-based nanostructures. Assemblies of interconnected Ir nanoparticles have been synthesized in the present studies using borohydride as reducing agent and ascorbic acid as capping agent, at high temperatures. Polyfunctional capping molecules such as ascorbic acid and vitamin P play important role for the formation of network- like Ir nanostructures. Optical properties of the networks are probed using UV-Vis spectroscopy and evolution of coupled plasmon of Ir nanochains at 418 nm (figure 1) is observed. The nanochains are used as substrates for SERS studies while the catalytic activity is followed for the reduction of nitroaromatics. Electrocatalytic activity of Ir nanochains is exemplified using oxygen reduction and formaldehyde oxidation. Ir nanochains show better electrocatalytic activities than nanoparticles as shown in figure 2. Figure 1. Time dependent UV-Vis absorption spectra of Ir nanoparticles recorded at various time intervals of (a) 5; (b) 15; (c) 30 and (d) 60 minutes of reduction of Ir3+ using borohydride and the corresponding TEM images. Figure 2. Polarization curves for oxygen reduction on (i) Ir nanochains and (ii) Ir nanoparticles in (A) 0.5 M H2SO4 and (B) 0.1 M KOH at a scan rate of 0.005 V/s. Rotation speed used is 1000 rpm. Chapter 4 discusses the preparation of Ir and IrOx using borohydride. The reaction temperature determines the product. Various physicochemical, microscopic and spectroscopic techniques have been used to understand the evolution of nanostructures. Borohydride reduces Ir3+ at high temperatures to form high surface area foams, while at 25oC, it results in an alkaline environment that helps in the hydrolysis of the Ir precursor to form IrOx nanoparticles. Porous IrOx is formed when Ir foams are annealed at high temperatures. Water oxidation has been demonstrated using IrOx nanoparticles and foams. Biocompatibility of IrOx is used to study the nature of interaction of heme proteins and the formation of bioconjugates using spectroscopic techniques. IrOx forms bioconjugates with substantial changes observed in secondary and tertiary structures of proteins. Chapter 5 explores the synthesis of interconnected ultrafine Os nanoclusters and the nanostructured materials are used as SERS substrates. Os nanochains are prepared under environmentally friendly conditions using polyfunctional molecules like ascorbic acid and vitamin P as both reducing agent and capping agent in aqueous media. Small sized (1-1.5 nm) Os nanoparticles spontaneously self-assemble to form clusters of few tens of nm that in turn self-organize to form branched nanochains of several microns in size. The as-formed nanochains show surface plasmon absorption in the visible region 540 nm which make them active substrates for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) studies. High SERS activity is observed for fluorescent analyte, rhodamine 6G and non-fluorescent analyte, mercaptopyridine, with different laser excitation sources. Efficient energy transfer from fluorescent R6G dye to Os nanochains is observed based on steady state and time resolved fluorescence measurements.Figure 3. (I) Time dependent UV-Vis absorption spectra of Os nanochains recorded at different time intervals of (a) 5; (b) 7; (c) 15; (d) 30 and (e) 60 minutes. Inset shows the TEM images of Os nanochains after 60 minutes of reduction. (II) SERS spectra of 4-MPy adsorbed on Os nanochains from (a) 1 mM; (b) 10 µM and (c) 1 µM solutions using 514 nm laser excitation. Chapter 6 discusses the studies based on reduced graphene oxide. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is explored as electrodes for simultaneous determination of dopamine (DA), ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA) at low concentrations useful in medical diagnostics (figure 4A). It is also used as metal-free electrocatalyst for ORR (figure 4B). The use of rGO as a support for anchoring Ir nanoparticles is probed and subsequently the Ir/rGO is used as catalyst for direct aerobic oxidation of benzyl amine derivatives to corresponding imines. Chapter 7 describes the summary of the work and scope for further studies. Appendix 1 discusses the preparation of different Ir nanostructures using simple galvanic displacement reaction on copper foil while appendix 2 describes the preparation of different sized Ir nanoparticles and their electrocatalytic activity towards oxygen reduction reaction

Le cancer figure parmi les principales causes de décès dans le monde. Afin de traiter le cancer, les chimiothérapies en combinaison avec la chirurgie sont les plus utilisées. Des composés organométalliques tel que les sels de platine représentent une référence en clinique. Malgré leur succès, ils comportent des limites qui sont des toxicités sur les tissus sains et le développement de résistances. Notre équipe collabore depuis plusieurs années avec divers chimistes afin de développer de nouvelles molécules organométalliques anticancéreuses à base de Ruthénium (ROC) et à base d'Osmium (ODC). Au cours de ma thèse, j'ai réalisé des études de type structure/fonction de nouvelles molécules afin de trouver les paramètres physicochimiques importants pour leur activité biologique et afin d'identifier leur mode d'action. Mes travaux ont démontré que le potentiel d'oxydoréduction des composés serait un facteur important pour leur cytotoxicité. De plus, j'ai identifié de nouvelles voies de signalisation régulées par ces composés, tels que les voies de signalisation d'Hif-1 et Nrf2, et les HDAC. L'ensemble de ces résultats nous permet de mieux comprendre les propriétés biologiques des composés organométalliques ce qui à terme devrait permettre une optimisation de leur structure pour améliorer leur activité anticancéreuse. / Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world. To treat cancer, several therapeutic approaches exist. Chemotherapy in combination with surgery is one of the most used. Organometallic compounds such as platinum salts represent a reference in clinic. Despite their success, they have limitations that are toxicity to healthy tissue and the development of resistance. Our team has been working for several years with chemists to develop new organometallic Ruthenium (ROC) and Osmium compounds (ODC). During my Ph.D. I performed structure/function studies on novel molecules in order to find the important physico chemical parameters for their biological activity. My work demonstrated that the redox potential is a crucial factor for the cytotoxicity of the compounds. ln addition, I identified novel regulatory pathways that are targeted by these compounds, such as the Hif1 and Nrf2 pathways, and the HDACs. All together these results allow us to have a better understanding of the biological properties of the organometallic compounds, which will in time allow a optimization of their structure to favor their anticancer activity.

Suite au succès clinique des composés du platine (cisplatin et de ses dérivés) en tant qu’agent anticancéreux, la chimie inorganique médicinale a connu un essor considérable offrant ainsi une alternative à la conception d'agents thérapeutiques. Bien que le cisplatin et ses dérivés soient sans doute une des classes la plus réussie de médicaments anticancéreux, leur utilisation n’est pas efficace contre tous les types de cancer. De plus, ils sont à l’origine d’effets secondaires très invalidants (neurotoxicité, néphrotoxicité, perte de poids, nausées…) et sont également inactifs contre certains cancers présentant une résistance innée ou induite. Par conséquent, la recherche a développé des composés possédant des activités améliorées et des profils de toxicité plus acceptables. Ceci a ainsi stimulé l'intérêt pour les complexes contenant d'autres métaux de la mine du platine tels que le ruthénium, car ces composés présentent une plus faible toxicité que les complexes existants. Certains composés du ruthénium ont déjà montré une activité anticancéreuse prometteuse et deux complexes du RuIII le trans-[RuCl4-(DMSO)(Im)]ImH (NAMI-A) et le trans-[RuCl4(Ind)2]IndH (KP1019) sont entrés récemment en phase clinique.Dans le but d’améliorer l’activité et de réduire les effets secondaires des agents anticancéreux existants, le Laboratoire de Synthèses Métallo-Induites a développé depuis plusieurs années des complexes organométalliques du ruthénium RDC (Ruthenium Derivative Compound) dans lesquels un des ligands est fortement lié au métal par une liaison convalente σ C-Ru qui est elle-même stabilisée par une liaison intramoléculaire N-Ru. Cette thèse présente les avancées récentes du laboratoire dans ce domaine et plus particulièrement le développement d’une chimiothèque de RDC de seconde génération dans laquelle le ligand cyclométallé est stabilisé par deux liaisons N-Ru. Plusieurs complexes ont ainsi atteint des IC50 significativement inférieur à la micromole. En parallèle, le même type d’études a été réalisé sur des complexes de l’osmium aboutissant à une chimiothèque ODC (Osmium Derivative Compound) d’une quarantaine de composés. Cette étude est d’un intérêt particulier car non seulement elle complète la famille des RDC, mais elle permet également de vérifier l’impact du changement de métal. Les études biologiques ont ainsi montré que l'osmium présente un réel intérêt dans le développement de nouveaux médicaments antitumoraux particulièrement efficaces. Les mesures des propriétés physico-chimiques telles que le potentiel d’oxydo-réduction et la lipophilie (log(Po/w)) ont permis de corréler ces paramètres à leur activité in vitro, se rapprochant ainsi d’une éventuelle relation propriété-activité (P.A.R.). Le réel rôle du potentiel d’oxydo-réduction deviendra probablement plus clair au fur et à mesure de notre avancée dans la résolution du mécanisme d'action de ces espèces. / Since the clinical success of platinum drugs (cisplatin and its derivatives) as anticancer agent, medicinal inorganic chemistry has become a field of growing interest because it offers an alternative for the design of therapeutic agents that are not readily available to organic compounds. Although cisplatin is one of the most widely used drugs in chemotherapy, it is not effective for all types of cancer. Moreover, platinum drugs are the cause of disabling side effects (neurotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, weight loss, nausea…) and their applicability is limited by innate or induced resistance to platinum in a narrow range of tumours. Therefore, this clinical success has promoted the search for cytotoxic compounds with enhanced activities and more acceptable toxicity profiles. This has stimulated interest in complexes containing other heavy metals of the platinum group such as ruthenium because these compounds show lower toxicity than drugs based on platinum. Some ruthenium compounds have already shown promising anticancer activity and two RuIII complexes trans-[RuCl4-(DMSO)(Im)]ImH (NAMI-A and trans-[RuCl4(Ind)2]IndH (KP1019) recently enter in clinical phase for their respectively antimetastatic and cytotoxic properties.In the essential aim of increasing activity and reducing side effects of anticancer agents, the Laboratoire de Synthèses Métallo-Induites has developed for several years organometallic ruthenium compounds RDC (Ruthenium Derivative Compound) in which one of the ligand is strongly bound to the metal via a strong σ C-Ru bond and stabilized by an intramolecular N-Ru bond. This thesis presents the recent advances of the laboratory in this field and the development of a second generation RDC in which the cylometallating ligand is stabilized by two N-Ru bonds. Thus, several complexes pass the symbolic barrier of the nanomolar range for their IC50 indicating a critical improvement. At the same time, we decided to focus our studies on osmium heavier congener, not only to complete the RDC chemical library, but also to verify the impact of exchanging the metal. An extensive chemical library ODC (Osmium Derivative Compound) of forty cyclometalated osmium complexes was synthesized and evaluated in vitro. Biological studies on these ODCs showed that osmium is another metal that deserves attention for the development of new effective antitumour drugs. The measurements of physicochemical properties such as red-ox potential and lipophylicity (log(Po/w)) allowed us to tentatively correlate these parameters to the level of activity, thus approaching a possible Property-Activity Relationship (P.A.R.). More insight into the role of the red-ox potential will probably become clearer as we progress into the mechanism of action of these species.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:51:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:07:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Tese (Doutoramento) / IPEN/T / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:51:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:07:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Neste trabalho foram estudados os níveis excitados do 193Ir produzidos a partir do decaimento β do 193Os (T1/2 ~ 30h). Para a obtenção das amostras radioativas, ~ 5mg de Ósmio metálico (99% enriquecido em 192Os) foram irradiados no reator IEA-R1, sob um fluxo de nêutrons da ordem de 1012cm2 s1 e depois analisadas, empregando-se a técnica de espectroscopia γ simples (unidimensional) com espectrômetro γ de alta resolução, bem como as técnicas de espectroscopia de coincidência γγ e de correlação angular direcional γγ (θ) usando um sistema de aquisição multiparamétrica composto por 4 detectores HPGe. A partir destes dados, foi possível adicionar 28 transições a este esquema de decaimento, 11 das quais já eram conhecidas de outros estudos envolvendo reações nucleares, além de 17 observadas pela primeira vez. Também foram acrescentados 8 níveis excitados ao esquema de decaimento, sendo 3 conhecidos por outras reações e 5 completamente novos. Além disso, foi possível confirmar a suspeita encontrada na literatura de que os níveis a 848,93keV e 849,093keV são o mesmo, além de confirmar a existência de um nível excitado a 806,9keV. A análise de correlação angular direcional permitiu a definição do spin de do nível excitado a 874kev (5/2+), além de propor uma probabilidade de 79% do nível a 1078keV ter spin 5/2, e de restringir as possibilidades de spin para o nível novo a 960keV para duas (1/2 ou 3/2). Também foi possível determinar a razão de mistura multipolar (δLn+1/Ln) para 43 transições, sendo 19 pela primeira vez e praticamente todas as restantes com precisão melhor que a encontrada na literatura. Finalmente, foi feita uma tentativa de compreender o núcleo através de um modelo teórico, o qual reproduziu muito bem o estado fundamental e os dois primeiros estados excitados do 193Ir. / Tese (Doutoramento) / IPEN/T / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

published_or_final_version / Chemistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Chemistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy