Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) using 3-dimensional metallofragments is a new strategy for the identification of bioactive molecules.

The synthesis and photophysical properties of a novel series of rhenium tricarbonyl complexes based on tridentate phenanthridinyl-containing ligands are described. Photophysical data reveal beneficial luminescence behaviour especially for compounds with an asymmetric ligand set. These advantageous properties are not limited to organic solvents, but indeed also improved in aqueous solutions. The suitability of our new rhenium complexes as potent imaging agents has been confirmed by fluorescence microscopy on living cancer cells, which also confirms superior long-time stability under fluorescence microscopy conditions. Colocalisation studies with commercial organelle stains reveal an accumulation of the complexes in the endoplasmic reticulum for all tested cell lines.

Among the various homogenous electrocatalysts, especially Re(bpy)(CO) 3 Cl and [Ni(cyclam)] 2 + were shown to be highly efficient for the selective conversion of CO 2 to CO at moderate potentials. However, a purposeful combination of a Re I tricarbonyl unit with a cyclam ligand hitherto received no attention. Herein, we report on a series of cyclam based Re complexes comprising the original {N 4 } as well as heteroatomaltered ligand frameworks, describe their synthesis, reveal their coordination behavior and furthermore investigate their performance towards the electrochemical CO 2 reduction.