News & Events

March 25, 2021

The Chair and collaborators are happy report that a large multi-faceted study on the chemistry, biochemistry, and cellular chemistry of Au(III) carbene pincer complexes has now been accepted for publication:

A cytotoxic bis(1,2,3-triazol-5-ylidene)carbazolide gold(III) complex targets DNA by partial intercalation

Danielle van der Westhuizen, Cathryn A. Slabber, Manuel A. Fernandes, Daniël F. Joubert, George Kleinhans, C. Johan van der Westhuizen, André Stander, Orde Q. Munro* and Daniela I. Bezuidenhout*: Chemistry-A European Journal, 27, 2021 (in press).

March 15, 2021

Ms Kebuile Moseki received a favorable examination result for her MSc dissertation and is currently making corrections ahead of graduation. The Chair and Bioinorganic Research Group wish to congratulate Kebuile on her scientific achievement and notable career milestone.

February 01, 2021

Ms Danielle van der Westhuizen received a favorable examination result for her PhD dissertation on Au(I/III) bis(carbene) pincer complexes. Corrections have been completed and Danielle is awaiting graduation. The Chair and Bioinorganic Research Group wish to congratulate Danielle on her significant achievement and important career milestone.

May 28, 2021

Our most recent paper reporting a large multi-faceted study on the chemistry, biochemistry, and cellular chemistry of Au(III) carbene pincer complexes has been featured on the front cover of Chemistry - A European Journal:

A cytotoxic bis(1,2,3-triazol-5-ylidene)carbazolide gold(III) complex targets DNA by partial intercalation

Danielle van der Westhuizen, Cathryn A. Slabber, Manuel A. Fernandes, Daniël F. Joubert, George Kleinhans, C. Johan van der Westhuizen, André Stander, Orde Q. Munro* and Daniela I. Bezuidenhout*: Chemistry-A European Journal, 27, 2021 (in press). https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202101553

• July-August, 2021: The main news in the group is that efforts are focused on preparing the X-ray diffraction laboratory for the installation of WITS University's new dual-wavelength X-ray diffractometer (a Bruker D8 Discovery system with hybrid diamond anode X-ray sources operating at Mo and Cu X-ray wavelengths). The old diffractometer was decommissioned and removed. The laboratory was painted and supporting infrastructure upgraded to accommodate the design of the new instrument.

• Weeks 3-4, August 2021: The new X-ray diffractometer was installed and tested by Bruker in the X-ray Diffraction Laboratory (Gate House) adjacent to Chemistry.

• Tuesday, September 14: Some low-temperature protein X-ray diffraction tests were recorded on the instrument by the Chair using lysozyme crystals grown by the hanging drop method. Software for data formatting and structure determination was tested. Snapshots are illustrated below.

October 18, 2021

The Chair, Dr Danielle van der Westhuizen, and Prof Daniela Bezuidenhout are happy report that our review article has now been accepted for publication and has also been featured on the journal back cover:

Cancer molecular biology and strategies for the design of cytotoxic gold(I) and gold(III) complexes: a tutorial review

D. van der Westhuizen, D. I. Bezuidenhout* and O. Q. Munro*, Dalton Trans., 2021, 17413-17437. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1DT02783B

The paper appears in the final issue of the journal for the year (Dalton Transactions, 21 December 2021, Volume 50, Issue 47, Page 17399 to 17802).

• The SARChI Chair of Bioinorganic Chemistry at WITS University reached its 15-year end point on the 31st of December, 2022. The NRF has indicated that there will be no further funding for any SARChI Chair in South Africa that has reached its full term going forward, as per the DSI mandate and statutes governing these Chairs at their inception. Accordingly, the former Chair holder is currently writing the final closing-out 15-year summative report for the SARChI Chair of Bioinorganic Chemistry at WITS University. This report is due in February 2023 alongside several other NRF grant reports.