Antifungal activity of novel catecholamine ruthenium(III) complexes

New catecholamine ruthenium(III) complexes with potentially interesting biological activity are described. The complexes were prepared by reacting catecholamine with [RuCl(NH^sub 3^)^sub 5^]Cl^sub 2^. The newly prepared species were formulated as [Ru^sup III^(NH^sub 3^)^sub 4^(catecholamine-R)]^sup n+^ where catecholamine-R = noradrenaline, dopamine and isoproterenol, and were characterized by elemental analysis, e.p.r., electronic absorption and f.t.-i.r. They were moderately stable in water at room temperature for at least 1 week. In vitro tests of antifungal activity showed the ruthenium-catecholamine complexes had strong inhibitory action against the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans, Candida glabrata and Candida tropicalis. Free catecholamine does not show any antifungal activity.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]