The role of hydrolysis in biological effects of molybdenum cluster with DMSO ligands

Biological applications of octahedral molybdenum cluster complexes are complicated by their hydrolytic instability, since hydrolysis leads to irreversible changes in the structure and properties of these compounds. On the other hand, if such changes are thoroughly investigated and understood, the hydrolysis process can become an important tool for regulating specific biological effects of the clusters. In this work, we demonstrate how the luminescence and biological properties (cellular uptake, cytotoxicity in the dark and photodynamic effect) of highly unstable cluster complex [{Mo 6 I 8 }(DMSO) 6 ](NO 3 ) 4 change along with the degree of hydrolysis. Particularly, cluster solution preliminarily aged in water demonstrated lower dark and higher photoinduced cytotoxicity and higher cellular uptake in comparison with fresh solution. Graphical abstract