Iridium-based anticancer reagents are receiving increasing attention for their high cytotoxicity. Herein, by activating CH bonds in the well-known antioxidant α-phenyl-N-tert-butylnitrone (PBN), we synthesized and characterized a series of new iridium complexes. Complex 1-AMP exhibited the best antiproliferation activity towards human ovarian cancer A2780 cells. The azide group in complex 1-AMP underwent the Cu(I)-catalysed azide − alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction and the resulting fluorescent imaging in cells suggested it mainly accumulated in mitochondria. In comparison, to eliminate cytotoxicity of Cu(I) catalyst, we conducted a reaction between complex 1-AMP and a commercialized dye via strain-promoted alkyne–azide cycloaddition (SPAAC) reaction in live cells, confirming its targeting mainly in the mitochondria. Iridium-based anticancer complexes containing a nitrone ligand and azide group may offer a useful tool to probe the mechanism of metallodrugs.

基于铱的抗癌试剂因其高细胞毒性而受到越来越多的关注。在此，通过活化众所周知的抗氧化剂α-苯基-N中的C H键-叔丁基硝酮（PBN），我们合成并表征了一系列新的铱配合物。复合物1-AMP对人卵巢癌A2780细胞表现出最佳的抗增殖活性。复杂的1-AMP中的叠氮化物基团经历了Cu（I）催化的叠氮化物-炔烃环加成反应（CuAAC），并且在细胞中产生的荧光成像表明它主要聚集在线粒体中。相比之下，为了消除Cu（I）催化剂的细胞毒性，我们在活细胞中通过应变促进的炔-叠氮化物环加成（SPAAC）反应进行了复杂的1-AMP与商品化染料之间的反应，从而证实了其主要靶向线粒体。含有硝酮配体和叠氮基的铱基抗癌复合物可能为探讨金属药物的作用机理提供有用的工具。