LAUSR

[Pt(N(R)-1,1'-Me2dma)Cl]Cl complexes with tridentate ligands (bis(1-methyl-2-methylimidazolyl)amine, R = H; N-(methyl)bis(1-methyl-2-methylimidazolyl)amine, R = Me) were prepared in order to investigate Pt(N(R)-1,1'-Me2dma)G adducts (G = monodentate N9-substituted guanine or hypoxanthine derivative). Solution NMR spectroscopy is the primary tool for studying metal complexes of nucleosides and nucleotides because such adducts rarely crystallize. However, [Pt(N(H)-1,1'-Me2dma)(3'-GMPH)]NO3·5H2O (5) was crystallized, allowing, to our knowledge, the first crystallographic molecular structure determination for a 3'-GMP platinum complex. The structure is one of only a very few structures of a 3'-GMP complex with any metal. Complex 5 has the syn rotamer conformation, with 3'-GMP bound by N7. All Pt(N(R)-1,1'-Me2dma)G adducts exhibit two new downfield-shifted G H8 signals, consistent with G bound to platinum by N7 and a syn/anti rotamer mixture. Anticancer-active monofunctional platinum(II) complexes have bulky carrier ligands that cause DNA adducts to be distorted. Hence, understanding carrier-ligand steric effects is key in designing new platinum drugs. Ligand bulk can be correlated with the degree of impeded rotation of the G nucleobase about the Pt-N7 bond, as assessed by the observation of rotamers. The signals of syn and anti rotamers are connected by EXSY cross-peaks in 2D ROESY spectra of Pt(N(H)-1,1'-Me2dma)G adducts but not in spectra of Pt(N(H)dpa)G adducts (N(H)dpa = bis(2-picolyl)amine), indicating that rotamer interchange is more facile and carrier-ligand bulk is lower in Pt(N(H)-1,1'-Me2dma)G than in Pt(N(H)dpa)G adducts. The lower steric hindrance is a direct consequence of the greater distance of the G nucleobase from the H4/4' protons in the N(R)-1,1'-Me2dma carrier ligand in comparison to that from the H6/6' protons in the N(H)dpa carrier ligand. Although in 5 the nucleotide is 3'-GMP (not the usual 5'-GMP) and the N(H)-1,1'-Me2dma carrier ligand is very different from those typically present in structurally characterized Pt(II) G complexes, the rocking and canting angles in 5 adhere to long-recognized trends.