Inhibitory effects of some organometallic complexes of rhodium(I) and iridium(I) on carrageenin paw edema in rats.

A group of 4 organometallic complexes of Rhodium (I) and 1 Iridium(I) was tested for the evaluation of their anti-inflammatory activity on carrageenin paw edema in rats. All the compounds used inhibited the development of paw edema by more than 50% at different dose-levels. The activity of the pyridinalmethylimine derivative [Rh(COD)PMI]+ Cl- had better results than that of [Rh(NBD)PMI]+ Cl- and even more than the dimeric complexes tested. The higher activity of [Ir(COD)Cl]2 as compared with [Rh(COD)Cl]2 suggests that it would be of interest to examine further Iridium(I) complexes, among which [Ir(COD)PMI]+ Cl- could be a good candidate.