Development of supramolecular coordination complexes (SCCs) has been ongoing for more than 30 years.^[1] But it was not until recently, that a small group of architectonically appealing supramolecules was also studied for their biomedical applications.^[2-5] Some of desirable features of SCCs can be their biocompatible composition using non-toxic organic ligands or their ability for targeting specific pathways or tissues. Herein, we aim to investigate natural compounds as organic ligands of SCCs in combination with toxic metals. Their synthesis, characterization and screening of their toxicity using 3D in vitro models will be the experimental basis of this work. A student will also carry out a literature review on development of bioactive SCCs and their toxicological studies and will also make an overview of other available methods for toxicological studies in vitro.

Recommended literature:
 
[1] T. R. Cook, P. J. Stang, “Recent Developments in the Preparation and Chemistry of Metallacycles and Metallacages via Coordination” Chem. Rev. 2015, 115, 7001–7045.
[2] Chattopadhyay S., Durník R., Kiesilä A., Kalenius E., Linnanto J. M., Babica P., Kuta J., Marek R., Jurček O.: Flexibility-Aided Orientational Self-sorting and Transformations of Bioactive Homochiral Cuboctahedron Pd₁₂L₁₆. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, 64, e202513902.
[3] A. Casini, B. Woods, M. Wenzel, “The Promise of Self-Assembled 3D Supramolecular Coordination Complexes for Biomedical Applications” Inorg. Chem. 2017, 56, 14715–14729.
[4] T. R. Cook, V. Vajpayee, M. H. Lee, P. J. Stang, K.-W. Chi, “Biomedical and Biochemical Applications of Self-Assembled Metallacycles and Metallacages” Acc. Chem. Res. 2013, 46, 2464–2474.
[5] H. Sepehrpour, W. Fu, Y. Sun, P. J. Stang, “Biomedically Relevant Self-Assembled Metallacycles and Metallacages” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 14005–14020.