page_title: Ferrocene
section_title: Pharmaceutical
hierarchical_section_title: Ferrocene / Applications of ferrocene and its derivatives / Pharmaceutical
caption_attribution_description: English: chemical structure of ferroquine Français&#160;: structure chimique de la ferroquine
context_page_description: Ferrocene is an organometallic compound with the formula Fe
  2. The molecule consists of two cyclopentadienyl rings bound on opposite sides of a central iron atom. It is an orange solid with a camphor-like odor, that sublimes above room temperature, and is soluble in most organic solvents. It is remarkable for its stability: it is unaffected by air, water, strong bases, and can be heated to 400 °C without decomposition. In oxidizing conditions it can reversibly react with strong acids to form the ferrocenium cation Fe+
  2.
  The rapid growth of organometallic chemistry is often attributed to the excitement arising from the discovery of ferrocene and its many analogues.
context_section_description: Ferrocene derivatives have been investigated as drugs. Only one drug has entered clinic trials, Ferroquine (7-chloro-N-(2-((dimethylamino)methyl)ferrocenyl)quinolin-4-amine), an antimalarial. Ferrocene-containing polymer-based drug delivery systems have been investigated.
  The anticancer activity of ferrocene derivatives was first investigated in the late 1970s, when derivatives bearing amine or amide groups were tested against lymphocytic leukemia. Some ferrocenium salts exhibit anticancer activity, but no compound has seen evaluation in the clinic.  Ferrocene derivatives have strong inhibitory activity against human lung cancer cell line A549, colorectal cancer cell line HCT116, and breast cancer cell line MCF-7. An experimental drug was reported which is a ferrocenyl version of tamoxifen.  The idea is that the tamoxifen will bind to the estrogen binding sites, resulting in cytotoxicity.
caption: Ferroquine
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