Question

Give an example of coordination compound used in medicine and two examples of biologically important coordination compounds.

Answer 1

Medical uses of coordination compounds:

1. Ca-EDTA chelate is used in the treatment of lead and radioactive poisoning. That is for removing lead and radioactive metal ions from the body.
2. Cis-platin is used as an antitumor drug in cancer treatment.

Biological importance of coordination compounds:

1. A red blood corpuscles (RBC) is composed of the heme group, which is Fe²⁺ Porphyrin complex. It plays an important role in carrying oxygen from lungs to tissues and carbon dioxide from tissues to lungs.

2. Chlorophyll, a green pigment present in green plants and algae, is a coordination complex containing Mg²⁺ as central metal ion surrounded by a modified Porphyrin ligand called a corrin ring. It plays an important role in photosynthesis, by which plants convert CO, and water into carbohydrates and oxygen.

3. Vitamin B₁₂ (cyanocobalamin) is the only vitamin consist of metal ions. It is a coordination complex in which the central metal ion is CO⁺ surrounded by Porphyrin ligand.

4. Many enzymes are known to be metal complexes, they regulate biological processes. For example, Carboxypeptidase is a protease enzyme that hydrolytic enzyme important in digestion contains a zinc ion coordinated to the protein.