Prof. Alessio's Group

Research Strand:

Development of metal complexes for imaging and therapy (Drug Design, Synthesis and Formulation)
Development of metal complexes for photocatalysis and supramolecular assemblies (Energy, Environment and Sustainable Chemistry)

Head of Research Group

Head:

Prof. Enzo Alessio

Info

Research

My research concerns classical coordination and organometallic chemistry in solution and is aimed to the development of functional coordination/organometallic compounds, i.e. compounds that, by virtue of their reactivity and/or chemical-physical properties, can be exploited in other, more complex, environments.

In particular, I have two main research lines:

Development of metal complexes for photocatalysis and supramolecular assemblies (Research area: Energy, Environment and Sustainable Chemistry)
Development of metal complexes for imaging and therapy (Research area: Drug Design, Synthesis and Formulation)

For more details on my research lines, please click on the links that you find above.

The synthesis and characterization of the metal compounds is performed by my group, that is typically composed by one Ph D student and a variable number of master students in chemistry. Occasionally, postdoctoral fellows and visiting Ph D students from abroad join the group.

The research benefits of a tight network of collaborations within the Department (in particular with Dr. Gabriele Balducci, Prof. Elisabetta Iengo and Prof. Barbara Milani). In addition, both main research lines have fruitful collaborations with other Departments (Prof. Gianni Sava, DSV) and local Institutions (Dr. Alberta Bergamo, Callerio Foundation; Dr. Nicola Demitri, ELETTRA Sinchrotron Trieste), as well as with Italian (Prof. Luigi Messori, University of Florence) and foreign Universities (Prof. Roger Alberto and Dr. Gilles Gasser, University of Zurich).

People

The synthesis and characterization of the metal compounds is performed by Prof. Alessio and his group, that is typically composed by one Ph D student and a variable number of master students in chemistry. Occasionally, postdoctoral fellows and visiting Ph D students from abroad join the group.

The research benefits of a tight network of collaborations within the Department. In addition, both main research lines have fruitful collaborations with other Departments (Prof. Gianni Sava, DSV) and local Institutions (Dr. Alberta Bergamo, Callerio Foundation; Dr. Nicola Demitri, ELETTRA Sinchrotron Trieste), as well as with Italian (Prof. Luigi Messori, University of Florence) and foreign Universities (Prof. Roger Alberto and Dr. Gilles Gasser, University of Zurich).

Prof. Alessio Enzo (Research Group - Member)
alessi@units.it

Battistin Federica (Research Group - Member)

Publications

Reserach line "Development of metal complexes for imaging and therapy"

Pertinent publications from year 2009

1) T. Gianferrara, I. Bratsos, E. Alessio*

A Categorization of Metal Anticancer Compounds Based on Their Mode of Action.

Dalton Trans., 2009, 7588-7598. Perspective Article

2) T. Gianferrara, I. Bratsos, E. Iengo, B. Milani, A. OÅ¡triÄ‡, C. Spagnul, E. Zangrando, E. Alessio*

Synthetic strategies towards ruthenium-porphyrin conjugates for anticancer activity.

Dalton Trans., 2009, 10742-10756.

3) T. Gianferrara, A. Bergamo, I. Bratsos, B. Milani, C. Spagnul, G. Sava, E. Alessio

Ruthenium-porphyrin conjugates with cytotoxic and phototoxic antitumor activity.

J. Med. Chem., 2010, 53, 4678-4690.

4) I. Bratsos, T. Gianferrara, E. Alessio,* C. G. Hartinger, M. A. Jakupec, B. K. Keppler

Ruthenium and Other Non-platinum Anticancer Compounds.

in Bioinorganic Medicinal Chemistry, E. Alessio ed., Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2011, pp. 151-174.

5) I. Bratsos,* D. Urankar, E. Zangrando, P. Genova-Kalou, J. KoÅ¡mrlj, E. Alessio, I. Turel*

1-(2-picolyl)-substituted 1,2,3-triazole as novel chelating ligand for the preparation of ruthenium complexes with potential anticancer activity.

Dalton Trans. 2011, 40, 5188 â€“ 5199.

6) I. Bratsos,* C. Simonin, E. Zangrando, T. Gianferrara, A. Bergamo, E. Alessio*

New half sandwich-type Ru(II) coordination compounds characterized by the fac-Ru(dmso-S)₃ fragment: influence of the face-capping group on the chemical behavior and in vitro anticancer activity.

Dalton Trans. 2011, 40, 9533 â€“ 9543.

7) I. Bratsos,* E. Mitri, F. Ravalico, E. Zangrando, T. Gianferrara, A. Bergamo, E. Alessio*

New half sandwich Ru(II) coordination compounds for anticancer activity

Dalton Trans. 2012, 41, 7358 â€“ 7371.

8) A. Rilak, I. Bratsos,^* E. Zangrando, J. Kljun,I. Turel, Å½. D. BugarÄiÄ‡, E. Alessio*

Factors that influence the antiproliferative activity of half sandwich Ru^II-[9]aneS3coordination compounds: activation kinetics and interaction with guanine derivatives.

Dalton Trans. 2012, 41, 11608 â€“ 11618.

9) G. Ragazzon, I. Bratsos, E. Alessio,* L. Salassa,*A. Habtemariam, R. McQuitty, G. J. Clarkson, P. J. Sadler*

Design of Photoactivatable Metallodrugs: Selective and Rapid Light-induced Ligand Dissociation from Half-Sandwich [Ru([9]aneS 3 )(Nâ€“N')(py)]²+ Complexes.

Inorg. Chim. Acta 2012, 393, 230-238.

10) C. Spagnul, R. Alberto,* G. Gasser, S. Ferrari, V. Pierroz, A. Bergamo, T. Gianferrara,* E. Alessio

Novel water-soluble ^99mTc(I)/Re(I)-porphyrin conjugates as potential multimodal agents for molecular imaging.

J. Inorg. Biochem. 2013, 122, 57â€“65.

11) I. Finazzi, I. Bratsos, T. Gianferrara, A. Bergamo, N. Demitri, G. Balducci, E. Alessio*

Photolabile Ru^II Half-Sandwich Complexes Suitable for Developing â€œCagedâ€ Compounds: Chemical Investigation and Unexpected Dinuclear Species with Bridging Diamine Ligands.

Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2013, 4743â€“4753. DOI:10.1002/ejic.201300792

12) J. Kljun,I. Bratsos, E. Alessio, G. Psomas, U. Repnik, M. Butinar, B. Turk, I. Turel*

New Uses for Old Drugs: Attempts to Convert Quinolone Antibacterials into Potential Anticancer Agents Containing Ruthenium.

Inorg. Chem. 2013, 52, 9039â€“9052. DOI: 10.1021/ic401220x

13) T. Gianferrara, C. Spagnul,R. Alberto,^*G. Gasser,S. Ferrari, V. Pierroz, A. Bergamo, E. Alessio*

Towards matched pairs of porphyrin-Re(I)/^99mTc(I) conjugates that combine photodynamic activity with fluorescence- and radio-imaging.

ChemMedChem 2014, 9, 1231â€“1237.DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.201300501.

14) A. Rilak, I. Bratsos,* E. Zangrando, J. Kljun, I. Turel, ZÌŒ. D. BugarcÌŒicÌ, E. Alessio*

New Water-Soluble Ruthenium(II) Terpyridine Complexes for Anticancer Activity: Synthesis, Characterization, Activation Kinetics, and Interaction with Guanine Derivatives.

Inorg. Chem. 2014, 53, 6113â€“6126. DOI 10.1021/ic5005215.

15) S. Pillozzi, L. Gasparoli, M. Stefanini, M. Dâ€™Amico, M. Ristori, E. Alessio, F. Scaletti, A. Becchetti, A. Arcangeli*, L. Messori*

NAMI-A is Highly Cytotoxic Toward Leukaemia Cell Lines: Evidence of Inhibition of KCa3.1 Channels.

Dalton Trans. 2014, 43, 12150 â€“ 12155. DOI:10.1039/C4DT01356E.

Reserach line "Development of metal complexes for photocatalysis and supramolecular assemblies"

Pertinent publications from year 2009

1) E. Zangrando, N. Kulisic, F. Ravalico, I. Bratsos, S. Jedner, M. Casanova, E. Alessio*

New ruthenium(II) precursors with the tetradentate sulfur macrocycles tetrathiacyclododecane ([12]aneS4) and tetrathiacyclohexadecane ([16]aneS4) for the construction of metal-mediated supramolecular assemblies.

Inorg. Chim. Acta, 2009, 362, 820-832.

2) I. Bratsos, E. Alessio

Ruthenium(II)-chlorido complexes of dimethylsulfoxide

Inorg. Synth., 2010, 35, 148-152 (doi: 10.1002/9780470651568.ch8).

3) E. Iengo,* T. Gatti, E. Zangrando, M. T. Indelli, F. Scandola, E. Alessio*

Concerted motions in supramolecular systems: metal-mediated assemblies of porphyrins that behave like nanometric step-machines.

Chem. Commun. 2011, 47, 1616-1618 (DOI: 10.1039/c0cc03513k)

4) E. Alessio, M. Casanova, E. Zangrando, E. Iengo*

Modular self-assembled multiporphyrin cages with tunable shape.

Chem. Commun.2012, 48, 5012-5015.

5) I. Finazzi, I. Bratsos, T. Gianferrara, A. Bergamo, N. Demitri, G. Balducci, E. Alessio*

Photolabile Ru^II Half-Sandwich Complexes Suitable for Developing â€œCagedâ€ Compounds: Chemical Investigation and Unexpected Dinuclear Species with Bridging Diamine Ligands.

Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2013, 4743â€“4753. DOI:10.1002/ejic.201300792

6) I. Bratsos, S. Calmo, E. Zangrando, G. Balducci, E. Alessio*

New cationic and neutral Ru(II)- and Os(II)-dmso carbonyl compounds.

Inorg. Chem. 2013, 52, 12120â€“12130. DOI: 10.1021/ic401940z

7) E. Iengo, N. Demitri, G. Balducci, E. Alessio*

An irresolute linker: separation, and structural and spectroscopic characterization of the two linkage isomers of a Ru(II)-(2-(2â€²-pyridyl)pyrimidine-4-carboxylic acid) complex.

Dalton Trans. 2014, 43, 12160-12163. DOI: 10.1039/C4DT01282H.

Last update: 04-15-2024 - 21:50

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