2026-04-20T07:13:40Zhttps://riubu.ubu.es/oai/request

oai:riubu.ubu.es:10259/113922026-02-19T01:05:24Zcom_10259_11209com_10259_5086com_10259_2604col_10259_11210

Inert cationic iridium(iii) complexes with phenanthroline-based ligands: application in antimicrobial inactivation of multidrug-resistant bacterial strains Busto Vázquez, Natalia Vigueras, Gloria Cutillas, Natalia García Ruiz, Begoña Ruiz, José Compuestos organometálicos Bacterias patógenas Organometallic compounds Pathogenic bacteria The antimicrobial activity of a new series of heteroleptic iridium(III) complexes of the type [Ir(C^N)2(N^N)][PF6] (C^N = deprotonated 2-phenylbenzimidazole-κN, κC; N^N = phen (Ir1), dpq (Ir2), dppz (Ir3), dppn (Ir4), and dppz-idzo (Ir5)) was studied towards two Gram positive (vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium and a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and two Gram negative (Acinetobacter baumanii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) multidrug-resistant bacterial strains of clinical interest. Although the complexes were inactive towards Gram negative bacteria, their effectiveness against Gram positive strains was remarkable, especially for Ir1 and Ir2, the most bactericidal complexes that were even more active (10 times) than the fluoroquinolone antibiotic norfloxacin and displayed no toxicity in human kidney cells (HEK293). Mechanistic studies revealed that the cell wall and membrane of MRSA S. aureus remained intact on treatment with these compounds and that DNA was not their main target. It is important to note that the complexes were able to induce ROS generation, this being the feature key to their antimicrobial activity. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCI/AEI) and FEDER funds (Projects RTI2018-096891-B-I00, RTI2018-102040-B-100 and MultiMetDrugs network RED2018-102471-T), Fundación Séneca-Región de Murcia (project 20857/PI/18), Consejería de Educación-Junta de Castilla y León-FEDER (BU042U16-BU305P18) and “la Caixa” Banking Foundation (LCF/PR/PR12/11070003). G.V. thanks the University of Murcia for a grant (R-1034/2016). 2026-02-18T09:13:21Z 2026-02-18T09:13:21Z 2022-07 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion 1477-9226 https://hdl.handle.net/10259/11392 10.1039/D2DT00752E 1477-9234 eng Dalton Transactions. 2022, V. 51, n. 25, p. 9559-9936 https://doi.org/10.1039/D2DT00752E info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess application/pdf Royal Society of Chemistry https://riubu.ubu.es/bitstream/10259/11392/3/Busto-DT_2022.pdf.jpg Hispana TEXT http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/ RIUBU. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Burgos https://hdl.handle.net/10259/11392