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

Step 1. Coordination compound used in medicine: cisplatin, cis-[Pt(NH₃)₂Cl₂], a square planar platinum(II) complex used as an antitumour drug -- it crosslinks DNA and cellular proteins, hindering DNA replication/transcription and inhibiting mitosis, which causes cell growth inhibition and cell death (Section 5.8.1). (The Ca-EDTA chelate, used to treat lead and radioactive-metal poisoning, is an equally valid alternative example.)

Step 2. Biologically important example 1: haemoglobin, the oxygen-transport protein of red blood corpuscles, is an Fe²⁺-porphyrin coordination complex that carries oxygen from the lungs to tissues and carbon dioxide back to the lungs. …

Recall the chapter's own worked applications list (Section 5.8): pick the named medicinal example (cisplatin or Ca-EDTA) and any two of the named biological …

• Naming a compound that is not actually a coordination complex (e.g. a simple organic drug) instead of one from the chapter's coordination-chemistry examples. …