Chapter 2: Silver-N-heterocyclic carbene complexes as promising anticancer compounds

Since their isolation in 1991, N-heterocyclic carbenes have become ubiquitous in organometallic chemistry.¹  In recent years, metal-NHC complexes are showing significant promise in biomedicine, with the development of highly efficient metal-based drugs for potential application in cancer therapeutics or infectious disease.^2–6  N-Heterocyclic carbene complexes of silver have been biologically evaluated most frequently as antimicrobial agents, with recent studies demonstrating their effectiveness against cancer cells. These initial achievements highlight the great potential of silver-N-heterocyclic carbenes as anticancer compounds.