Metal N-heterocyclic carbene complexes in medicinal chemistry

Based on their strong s-donor properties N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands can form stable complexes with many transition metals. Numerous applications of metal NHC complexes have been developed in the field of chemical catalysis. The option to generate very stable complexes as well as the convenient access to a high number of structurally diverse NHC ligands have made them also attractive target compounds in inorganic medicinal chemistry. A fast increasing number of reports demonstrates that metal NHC complexes provide an excellent scaffold for metallodrug design and many examples have been studied pharmacologically in great detail. This chapter focuses on metal NHC complexes containing the selected metals ruthenium, rhodium, silver, iridium and gold.