Crystal Structure of Ionic Compound Between Antiviral Drug Acyclovir and Complex Ruthenate(II)

Amalija Golobič,¹ Dženan Šarić,¹ Iztok Turel^1,* and Barbara Serli²

¹ University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Aškerčeva 5, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
² University of Trieste, Department of Chemical Sciences, Via L. Giorgieri 1, 34127 Trieste, Italy
* Corresponding author: E-mail: iztok.turel@fkkt.uni-lj.si

Abstract
Novel compound, (acvH)[trans-RuCl₄(dmso-O)NO] (1) (dmso-O is dimethylsulfoxide coordinated through oxygen atom), was isolated from the reaction between antiviral drug acyclovir (acv) and ruthenium precursor ((dmso)₂H)[trans- RuCl₄(dmso-O)NO] (2). Crystal structure revealed that compound 1 is of ionic type, containing N(7) protonated acyclovir (acvH) which is not coordinated to the metal center. There is a distorted octahedral coordination around ruthenium( II) center in 1. Four chlorido ligands are lying in a plane, whereas dmso molecule and nitrosyl group (coordinated through nitrogen atom) are bonded in trans axial positions. In spite the fact that acv (which is nucleoside analogue) is protonated, a glycoside bond between N(9) and side chain remained intact.

Keywords: Bioinorganic chemistry; nucleoside analogues; acyclovir; ruthenium complexes; nitrosyl; X-ray diffraction