The mechanism of antimalarial action of [Au(CQ)(PPh3)]PF6: Structural effects and increased drug lipophilicity enhance heme aggregation inhibition at lipid/water interfaces

The most likely antimalarial mechanism for complex [Au(CQ)(PPh3)]PF6 is the heme aggregation inhibition; the high activities observed against resistant parasites are probably due to the structural modification of CQ introduced by the presence of the gold-triphenylphosphine fragment, together with the enhanced lipophilic character.