Synthesis and characterization of Au(I) NHCs complexes with biological molecules in the coordination sphere

The thesis project is based on the synthesis of Au(I) complexes for antitumoral purposes. The idea is to complex the metal with two ligands, one is an N heterocyclic carbene and the second is a biological molecule, an amino acid, a protected amino acid or a protected dipeptide. The work can be divided in two parts, the first one involves the syntheses of the precursors, the NHC-Au-Cl complex and the dipeptides, and the second part focuses on finding the best conditions for the coupling reaction between the gold and the sulfur of the biological moiety. Characterizations of the products are mainly based on NMR spectroscopy and, where necessary, IR and MS spectroscopy.