Novel N-heterocyclic ylideneamine gold(I) complexes: synthesis, characterisation and screening for antitumour and antimalarial activity

Ylideneamine functionalised heterocyclic ligands, 1,3-dimethyl-1,3-dihydro-benzimidazol-2-ylideneamine (I), 3-methyl-3H-benzothiazol-2-ylideneamine (II) or 3,4-dimethyl-3H-thiazol-2-ylideneamine (III), were employed in the preparation of a series of both charged and neutral gold(I) complexes consisting either of a Au(C6F5) fragment (1-3), a [Au(PPh3)](+) unit (4-6) or a [Au(NHC)](+) unit (7) coordinated to the imine nitrogen of the neutral ylideneamine ligand. These complexes were fully characterised by various techniques including X-ray diffraction. In addition, the antitumour and antimalarial potential of selected compounds were assessed in a preliminary study aimed at determining the medicinal value of such compounds. Complexation of the azol-2-ylideneamine ligands with [Au(PPh3)](+) increases their antitumour as well as antimalarial activity.