Thomas W. Rees

Thomas W. Rees
Verified
Thomas verified their affiliation via an institutional email.
Verified
Thomas verified their affiliation via an institutional email.
The Francis Crick Institute

PhD

About

60
Publications
10,916
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
2,868
Citations
Introduction
I am a skilled synthetic chemist with a Ph.D. in organic and organometallic synthesis from the University of Birmingham (U.K.). My main interests are applied synthetic organometallic chemistry for medicinal and renewable energy applications. I am currently a Senior Laboratory Research Scientist at the Francis Crick Institute working on organometallic complexes as antibiotics.
Additional affiliations
April 2021 - July 2021
University of Nottingham
Position
  • Fellow
November 2017 - December 2020
Sun Yat-sen University
Position
  • Research Associate
September 2012 - June 2015
University of Birmingham
Position
  • Research Assistant
Description
  • Supervision and training of undergraduates in practical chemistry. Marking of 1st- and 2nd-year undergraduate written work. Planning and supervision of a variety of summer student projects, exchange student projects and masters student projects.
Education
August 2010 - August 2011
Philipps University of Marburg
Field of study
  • Chemistry
September 2008 - August 2012
University of Birmingham
Field of study
  • Chemistry with Study Abroad

Publications

Publications (60)
Article
A series of six homoleptic bis-cyclometalated ruthenium complexes, Ru(N^N^C)2, is reported where N^N^C is a 6-(2,4-difluoro-3-R(3)-phenyl)-4-R(2)-4'-R(1)-2,2'-bipyridine with R(3) = -H or -CF3 and R(2) and R(1) = -COOEt or -CF3. An effective synthesis of the ligands and the complexes is described. The UV-visible absorption studies demonstrate that...
Article
Since the first report of black dye, ruthenium complexes with tridentate ligands have attracted attention due to their ability to harvest photons in the near infrared. Herein we review this family of sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cell focusing on their chemical structures and properties. We briefly highlight their performance in photovoltaic...
Article
The synthesis, structural and photophysical characterisation of four novel, cationic iridium(III) complexes is reported. These complexes were designed to emit in the blue region of the visible spectrum, without employing...
Article
Full-text available
There is presently a lack of efficient and stable blue emitters for light-emitting electrochemical cells (LEECs), which limits the development of white light emitting systems for lighting. Cyclometalated iridium complexes as blue emitters tend to show low photoluminescence efficiency due to significant ligand-centred character of the radiative tran...
Thesis
Full-text available
Cyclometalates have been the focus of much attention in recent years and have applications ranging from photovoltaics to cancer therapies. Many heteroleptic terdentate complexes are known in the literature however bis-homoleptic terdentate cyclometalates remain rare. The metals of group 8 and 9 are of particular interest due to the excellent optoel...
Article
Full-text available
The active layer of solar cells in gradient films of a small molecule acceptor and a chiral donor were imaged using Mueller matrix polarimetry showing thickness dependence in supramolecular organization reflected in optoelectronic behaviour.
Article
A series of biotin-functionalized transition metal complexes was prepared by iClick reaction from the corresponding azido complexes with a novel alkyne-functionalized biotin derivative ([Au(triazolatoR,R′)(PPh3)], [Pt(dpb)(triazolatoR,R′)], [Pt(triazolatoR,R′)(terpy)]PF6, and [Ir(ppy)(triazolatoR,R′)(terpy)]PF6 with dpb = 1,3-di(2-pyridyl)benzene,...
Article
Full-text available
Nonribosomal cyclic peptides (NRcPs) are structurally complex natural products and a vital pool of therapeutics, particularly antibiotics. Their structural diversity arises from the ability of the multidomain enzyme assembly lines, nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs), to utilize bespoke nonproteinogenic amino acids, modify the linear peptide d...
Article
Full-text available
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global problem with more than 1 million deaths due to AMR infection in 2019 alone. New and innovative therapeutics are required to overcome this challenge. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) is a rapidly growing area of research poised to provide much needed help in the fight against AMR. aPDT work...
Article
Ruthenium(II) and iridium(III) coordination compounds display excellent structural, photophysical, and biological properties which make them highly promising as anticancer and bioimaging agents. When nanoparticles are functionalized with Ru(II) and Ir(III) complexes, enhanced performance and synergistic effects can be produced in the resultant nano...
Article
Full-text available
The photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer is limited by tumor hypoxia as PDT efficiency depends on O2 concentration. A novel oxygen self-sufficient photosensitizer (Ru-g-C3N4) was therefore designed and synthesized via a facile one-pot method in order to overcome tumor hypoxia-induced PDT resistance. The photosensitizer is based on [Ru(bpy)2]²⁺ coor...
Article
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising noninvasive cancer treatment. PDT in the clinic faces several hurdles due to the unique tumor environment, a feature of which is high levels of glutathione (GSH). An excess amount of GSH consumes reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by photosensitizers (PSs), reducing PDT efficiency. Herein, nano-photose...
Article
Full-text available
Immunogenic cell death (ICD) is a vital component of therapeutically induced anti‐tumor immunity. An iridium(III) complex (Ir1), containing an N,N‐bis(2‐chloroethyl)‐azane derivate, as an endoplasmic reticulum‐localized ICD inducer for non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is reported. The characteristic discharge of damage‐associated molecular patter...
Article
Full-text available
The organoplatinum(II) complex [Pt(C^N^N)(Cl)] (C^N^N=5,6‐diphenyl‐2,2′‐bipyridine, Pt1) can assemble into nanoaggregates via π–π stacking and complementary hydrogen bonds, rather than Pt–Pt interactions. Pt1 exhibits ratiometric dual emission, including rare blue emission (λem=445 nm) and assembly‐induced yellow emission (λem=573 nm), under one‐ a...
Article
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a non-invasive treatment for various cancers and non-malignant diseases. Despite its clinical promise, one of the major drawbacks of some PDT agents is their oxygen-dependent nature. This limits their efficiency in hypoxic solid tumors. Recent advances in nanotechnology and nanomedicine have led to the development of o...
Article
An organoplatinum(II) complex exhibits ratiometric dual emission on assembly via π–π stacking. The excellent and unique characteristics of the complex enable the tracking of cell apoptosis, necrosis, and the inflammation process in zebrafish. Abstract The organoplatinum(II) complex [Pt(C^N^N)(Cl)] (C^N^N=5,6‐diphenyl‐2,2′‐bipyridine, Pt1) can asse...
Article
Ir1 effectively targets the endoplasmic reticulum of A549 lung cancer cells and triggers the production of ER stress and ROS production. Ir1 was demonstrated to induce multiple characteristics of immunogenic cell death (ICD) both in vitro and in an in vivo vaccination experiment. Ir1 is the first iridium(III) complex to induce ICD in non‐small‐cell...
Article
Full-text available
The efficacy of photodynamic therapy is typically reliant on the local concentration and diffusion of oxygen. Due to the hypoxic microenvironment found in solid tumors, oxygen‐independent photosensitizers are in great demand for cancer therapy. We herein report an iridium(III) anthraquinone complex as a mitochondrion‐localized carbon‐radical initia...
Article
The efficacy of photodynamic therapy is typically reliant on the local concentration and diffusion of oxygen. Due to the hypoxic microenvironment found in solid tumors, oxygen‐independent photosensitizers are in great demand for cancer therapy. We herein report an iridium(III) anthraquinone complex (Ir4) as a mitochondrion‐localized carbon radical...
Article
Full-text available
Inducing necroptosis in cancer cells is an effective approach to circumvent drug‐resistance. Metal‐based triggers have, however, rarely been reported. Ruthenium(II) complexes containing 1,1‐(pyrazin‐2‐yl)pyreno[4,5‐e][1,2,4]triazine were developed with a series of different ancillary ligands (Ru1‐7). The combination of the main ligand with bipyridy...
Article
Oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) is one of the major pathological mechanisms of acute kidney injury (AKI). Inorganic nanomaterial-mediated antioxidant therapy is considered a promising method for the prevention of AKI; however, currently available antioxidants for AKI exhibit limited clinical efficacy due to the glomerular...
Article
Full-text available
Compared to 2PE (two‐photon excitation) microscopy, 3PE microscopy has superior spatial resolution, deeper tissue penetration, and less defocused interference. The design of suitable agents with a large Stokes shift, good three‐photon absorption (3PA), subcellular targeting, and fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) properties, is challenging. Now,...
Article
Full-text available
Correction for ‘Synthesis, characterization and anticancer mechanism studies of fluorinated cyclometalated ruthenium( ii ) complexes’ by Ya Wen et al. , Dalton Trans. , 2020, DOI: 10.1039/d0dt01412e.
Article
Full-text available
Inducing necroptosis in cancer cells is an effective approach to circumvent drug‐resistance. Metal‐based triggers have, however, rarely been reported. Ruthenium(II) complexes containing 1,1‐(pyrazin‐2‐yl)pyreno[4,5‐e][1,2,4]triazine were developed with a series of different ancillary ligands ( Ru1 ‐ 7 ). The combination of the main ligand with bipy...
Article
Cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes were developed as mitochondria‐targeted three‐photon phosphorescence agents for confocal imaging and phosphorescence lifetime imaging. The agents can be used from monolayer cells to the living body, with both large penetration depth and great resolution at an excitation wavelength of 980 nm. Abstract Compared...
Article
The drug-resistance of cancer cell has become a major obstacle to the development of clinical drugs for chemotherapy. In order to overcome cisplatin-resistance, seven cyclometalated ruthenium(II) complexes were synthesized with a varying degree of fluorine substitution, for use as anticancer agents. Cytotoxicity assay testified the complexes posses...
Article
Magnetic hyperthermia therapy (MHT) and chemodynamic therapy (CDT) are non-invasive in situ treatments without depth limitations and with minimum adverse effects on surrounding healthy tissue. We herein report a mitochondria-targeting magnetothermogenic nanozyme ([email protected]2O4 NPs) for highly efficient cancer therapy. An iridium(III) complex...
Article
Nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide anions (O2•-) are two noteworthy reactive species implicated in various physiological and pathological processes, such as the ROS-induced lysosomal cell death. The interaction (“crosstalk”) between them may form a new mediator peroxynitrite (ONOO-) which has implications for cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and...
Article
Full-text available
Correction for ‘Fabrication of red blood cell membrane-camouflaged Cu 2−x Se nanoparticles for phototherapy in the second near-infrared window’ by Zhou Liu et al. , Chem. Commun. , 2019, 55 , 6523–6526.
Article
Full-text available
Correction for ‘Mitochondria-targeted Ir@AuNRs as bifunctional therapeutic agents for hypoxia imaging and photothermal therapy’ by Libing Ke et al. , Chem. Commun. , 2019, 55 , 10273–10276.
Article
Nucleus-targeting NPs based on RuO2 (RuO2NPs) were developed by controlling the size and surface charge of nanoparticles (NPs). Our study not only demonstrates a facile approach for the fabrication of...
Article
Full-text available
Reported is the FeIII‐activated lysosome‐targeting prodrug FerriIridium for gastric cancer theranostics. It contains a meta‐imino catechol group that can selectively bond to, and be oxidized by, free FeIII inside the cell. Subsequent oxidative rearrangement releases FeII and hydrolyses the amine bond under acidic conditions, forming an aminobipyrid...
Article
Doppelagent: Der Catechol‐Iridiumkomplex FerriIridium kann durch Eisen(III) spezifisch aktiviert werden, um Phosphoreszenz und Zytotoxizität zu generieren. Es wird gezeigt, dass FerriIridium ein wirksames und selektives Theranostikum gegen Magenkrebs ist. Abstract Reported is the FeIII‐activated lysosome‐targeting prodrug FerriIridium for gastric...
Article
Mitochondria are essential organelles in eukaryotic cells, containing various signaling molecules and important enzymes associated with cell growth, death, and proliferation. The visualization of mitochondria and their biochemistry with confocal microscopy, fluorescence (phosphorescence) lifetime microscopy (FLIM, PLIM), and super-resolution micros...
Article
Lysosomes are important organelles in animal cells, and play a crucial role in many cellular processes. Inspired by the clinical success of the archetypal metallodrug cis-platinum and benefiting from the rapid advances made in cell imaging technology, luminescent transition metal complexes have recently been developed for the visualization and moni...
Article
A mitochondria-targeted hetero-binuclear Ir(III)-Ru(II) complex was developed as a photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) bifunctional agent, to achieve a synergistic effective therapeutic outcome for the therapy of cisplatin-resistant...
Article
Significance Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an emerging treatment method for various types of diseases. In PDT, photosensitizers absorb light of appropriate energy and then convert oxygen into highly reactive oxygen species that destroy malignant cells. Photosensitizers with 2-photon absorption bring benefits such as increased penetration depth with...
Article
Ru(II) polypyridyl complexes, containing a morpholine moiety, and possessing two-photon absorption properties and pH dependent singlet oxygen production were used for stepwise lysosomes-to-mitochondria photodamage of cancer cells.
Article
Platinum-resistant cancer cells are sensitive to changes in the levels of reactive oxidative species (ROS). Herein, we design a biotin-modified Ru(II) complex as photosensitizer (denoted as Ru-Biotin). Ru-Biotin can selectively...
Article
Ir(III) complex modified gold nanorods, Ir@AuNRs, were developed as mitochondria-targeted theranostic nanoagents. Their hypoxia imaging and photothermal therapeutic properties were demonstrated in vitro and in vivo.
Article
Nitric oxide (NO) is a fundamental signaling molecule that shows complex effects on the catabolic autophagy process, which is closely linked with lysosomal function. However, owing to the dynamic transformation of the components of the highly heterogeneous lysosomes and the complicated microenvironment in lysosomes , it is hard to explore the inter...
Article
Cu2-xSe nanoparticles (Cu2-xSeNPs) were camouflaged with red blood cell membrane (RBC) to create nanoparticles with improved biocompatibility, longer blood retention times, excellent absorption properties, superior photothermal conversion efficiency (67.2%) and...
Article
Hypoxia is frequently found in the center of solid tumors. It contributes to drug resistance and is a major obstacle in the development of effective cancer therapy. Designing activatable theranostic agents for hypoxic cancer cells remains a big challenge. We herein report five novel cyclometalated iridium(III) complexes with an attached anthraquino...
Article
In this paper, the DNA interaction properties of four Ru(II) polypyridyl complexes, [Ru(bpy)2(pip)]2+ (1), bpy = 2,2’-bipyridine, pip = 2-phenyl-imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline), [Ru(bpy)2(nip)]2+ (2), nip = 2-naphthyl-imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline), [Ru(bpy)2(aip)]2+ (3), aip = 2-(9-anthryl)-imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline) and [Ru(bpy)...
Article
In this work, we investigate the factors influencing the shape of the low-energy tail of the absorption spectrum of a homoleptic biscyclometalated ruthenium complex with terdentate ligands [Rees et al., Inorganic Chemistry, 2017, 56, 9903] by combining an advanced theoretical strategy and the synthesis of an analogous Osmium complex. The theoretica...
Article
Iridium complexes were used as a mitochondria-targeting agent to modify the surface of a photothermogenic nanozyme Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Ir@Fe3O4 NPs). Upon NIR irradiation, Ir@Fe3O4 NPs increase the localized temperature to...
Article
Mitochondria are the control centers of apoptosis. To study mitochondrial dynamics during apoptosis, four phosphorescent fluorinated iridium(III) complexes (Ir1-Ir4) were designed and synthesized. The complexes emission maxima phosphorescent quantum yields, and phosphorescent lifetimes are tuned by the degree of fluorination of the ligand. The comp...
Article
A hetero-binuclear Ir(III)-Pt(II) complex was developed as an antitumor agent. In vitro cytotoxicity results indicated that this complex was effective against cisplatin-resistant tumor cells. Mechanism experiments showed that it can...
Article
Despite their past triumphs, platinum-based therapeutics remain limited by chemo-resistance and severe side effects. As an alternative therapeutic modality which bypasses these issues, photodynamic therapy (PDT) holds great promise. The first FDA approved PDT agent, Photofrin, stimulated an outpouring of porphyrin-motif studies, while metallodrugs...
Article
Significance Photodynamic therapy is a noninvasive medical procedure in which malignant tissue is damaged by reactive oxygen species generated from targeted light irradiation on a photosensitizer. Herein, we incorporate an Ru(II)-based two-photon photosensitizer into a macrocyclic structure via coordination-driven self-assembly. Properties favorabl...
Article
Full-text available
Oncosis is a non-apoptotic form of programmed cell death (PCD), which differs from apoptosis in both morphological changes and inner pathways, and might hold the key to defeating a major obstacle in cancer therapy - drug-resistance, which is often a result of the intrinsic apoptosis resistance of tumours. However, despite the fact that the term "on...
Article
Two iridium(III) complexes with ligands containing morpholine groups were used to track mitochondrial pH fluctuation during cell apoptosis as their emissive intensities linearly increased with increase in pH values.
Article
Since the discovery of mitochondrial dynamics, demand for dyes able to track this process has been a great. In contrast to static imaging, dynamic tracking requires superior photostability, low cytotoxicity and high resistance to the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential as well as appreciable tolerance to environmental changes. Recently, a vari...
Article
It was noted that DNA can undergo B-Z transformational changes and compaction in the presence of DNA intercalators such as ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes. The link between B-Z transition and condensation is weak but can be strengthened under certain circumstances with slight alterations to the structures of ruthenium(II) complexes. Herein, bas...
Article
Cellular organelles, such the cytomembrane, lysosome, mitochondrion, Golgi apparatus, the endoplasmic reticulum, and nucleus, play important roles in the normal function of cells. Organelle-targeting bioimaging can aid our understanding of how organelles function, while the development of organelle-targeting therapy could deliver treatment for a va...
Poster
Full-text available
The synthesis and characterization bis-homoleptic C^N^N coordinated complexes of ruthenium and osmium with broad absorption profiles suitable for optoelectronic applications

Network

Cited By