Reactions and structural characterization of gold(iii) complexes with amino acids, peptides and proteins

Abstract

The present review article highlights recent findings in the field of gold(iii) complexes with amino acids, peptides and proteins. The first section of this article provides an overview of the gold(iii) reactions with amino acids, such as glycine, alanine, histidine, cysteine and methionine. The second part of the review is mainly focused on the results achieved in the mechanistic studies of the reactions between gold(iii) and different peptides and structural characterization of gold(iii)-peptide complexes as the final products in these reactions. The last section of this article deals with the reactions of gold(iii) complexes with proteins as primary targets for cytotoxic gold compounds. Systematic summaries of these results contribute to the future development of gold(iii) complexes as potential antitumor agents and also have importance in relation to the severe toxicity of gold-based drugs. © 2012 The Royal Society of Chemistry.