Academic staff : Louis M Rendina

Associate Professor Address: School of Chemistry, Building F11 The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia E-mail address: rendina@chem.usyd.edu.au Telephone: +61-2-9351-4781 Fax: +61-2-9351-3329 Web: http://www.chem.usyd.edu.au/~lmrgroup

Career Profile:

B.Sc.(Hons I) ANU, 1988
Ph.D. ANU, 1991
IAS Postdoctoral Fellow, 1991-1993
NSERC Canada International Fellow, 1993-1995
Lecturer, University of Adelaide, 1996-1999
Senior Lecturer, University of Adelaide, 2000-2003
Royal Australian Chemical Institute Biota Medal for Medicinal Chemistry, 2003
Royal Australian Chemical Institute Organometallic Chemistry Award, 2004
Selby Research Award, 2005
Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (FRACI), 2005
Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), 2007
Royal Society JWT Jones Fellowship (Oxford University)

Areas of Interest:

• New pharmaceuticals for Neutron Capture Therapy (NCT).

• Synthetic and mechanistic chemistry of the platinum group metals.

• Metal-DNA chemistry.

Research:

My current research program encompasses the synthesis and medicinal chemistry of new agents for Neutron Capture Therapy (NCT).  This work has culminated in the recent discovery of several new classes of boron agents for potential use in an experimental cancer treatment known as Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT). In addition, we have recently initiated studies of new gadolinium agents for use as potential GdNCT agents.  Past and present funding sources of this major research program include: Australian Research Council, Cure Cancer Foundation of Australia, National Breast Cancer Foundation, Cancer Council SA and Sydney University Cancer Fund.

We also have an interest in the synthesis of nanomolecular platinum and palladium macrocycles for encircling double-helical DNA. Such entities have been termed "DNA Nanoshuttles" and their interaction with DNA would represent an unprecedented advance in the field of metal-DNA chemistry.

Selected publications:

• Ioppolo, J. A.; Clegg, J. K.; Rendina, L. M. Dicarba-closo-dodecaborane(12) Derivatives of Phosphonium Salts: Easy Formation of Nido-Carborane Phosphonium Zwitterions, Dalton Trans., 2007, 1982 [Selected as a Front Cover highlight].
  

• Ching, H. Y. V.; Clegg, J. K.; Rendina, L. M., Synthesis and Preliminary DNA-Binding Studies of Diimineplatinum(II) Complexes Containing 3- or 4-Pyridineboronic Acid, Dalton Trans., 2007, 2121.
  

• Crossley, E. L.; Ziolkowski, E. J.; Coderre, J. A.; Rendina, L. M., Boronated DNA-Binding Compounds as Potential Agents for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy, Mini Rev. Med. Chem., 2007, 7, 303.
  

• Lee, C. K. Y.; Groneman, J. L.; Turner, P.; Rendina, L. M.; Harding, M. M., Synthesis and X-Ray Crystallographic Analysis of Chiral Pyridyl Substituted Carbocyclic Molecular Clefts, Tetrahedron, 2006, 62, 4870.
  

• Crossley, E. L.; Caiazza, D.; Rendina, L. M.A Highly Water-Soluble Platinum(II) Complex Containing a Thiopropyl-1,2-dicarba-closo-dodecaborane(12) Ligand Functionalised with a Pendant Glycerol Group, Dalton Trans., 2005, 2825. [Selected as “Hot Article”]
  

• Woodhouse, S. L.; Ziolkowski, E. J.; Rendina, L. M. Synthesis and Anti-Cancer Activity of Dinuclear Platinum(II) Complexes Containing Bis(thioalkyl)dicarba closo-dodecaborane(12) Ligands, Dalton Trans., 2005, 2827. [Selected for inclusion in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s “Chemical Biology Virtual Journal”].
  

• Todd, J. A.; Turner, P.; Ziolkowski, E. J.; Rendina, L. M. 2,2’:6’,2”-Terpyridineplatinum(II) Complexes Containing Thioalkyl-dicarba-closo-dodecaborane(12) Ligands, Inorg. Chem., 2005,44, 6401.

• Rendina, L. M.; Hambley, T. W. "Platinum" in Comprehensive Coordination Chemistry II, Volume 6, Fenton, D. E. (Ed.); Elsevier/Pergamon Press: 2004, 673.

• Woodhouse, S. L.; Rendina, L. M. Multinuclear Platinum(II)-Amine Complexes Containing Bis(aminopropyl)-dicarba-closo-dodecaborane(12) Ligands, Dalton Trans., 2004, 3669.

• Crisp, M. G.; Tiekink, E. R. T.; Rendina, L. M. Cationic σ-Phenylplatinum(II) Complexes with Carboxylic Acid Functionality: pKa Determinations and X-ray Structures, Inorg. Chem., 2003, 42, 1057.

• Todd, J. A.; Rendina, L. M. Synthesis and DNA-Binding Properties of Cationic 2,2':6',2"-Terpyridineplatinum(II) Complexes Containing 1,2- and 1,7-Dicarba-closo-dodecaborane(12), Inorg. Chem., 2002, 41, 3331.

• Woodhouse, S. L.; Rendina, L. M. Synthesis and DNA-Binding Properties of Dinuclear Platinum(II)-Amine Complexes of 1,7-Dicarba-closo- dodecaborane(12), Chem. Commun., 2001, 2464.

• Gianneschi, N. C.; Tiekink, E. R. T.; Rendina, L. M. Dinuclear Platinum Complexes with Hydrogen Bonding Functionality: Noncovalent Assembly of Nanoscale Cyclic Arrays, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2000, 122, 8474.