**Theoretical Insight into the Medicinal World of Organometallics: Macro versus Nano**

Ruby Srivastava

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/67781

#### **Abstract**

Due to the unique physicochemical properties, organometallic complexes have been widely used in the medicinal world. These complexes have specific properties such as structural diversity, redox/catalytic activities, and possibility of ligand exchange. As the cancer therapies provided by these complexes are not always effective and have desired side effects, new treatment methods are needed for the successful therapies. Recent advances suggest that nanotechnology has also profound impact on the disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. The delivery system based on nanotechnology has faster drug absorption, controlled dosage release, and minimal side-effects. This technology is used for the treatment of cancer till now, but soon, it will find applications to other diseases also. The use of nanotechnology in the field of drug delivery is to develop a system that improves the solubility and bioavailability of hydrophobic drugs. It is used to increase specificity, developing delivery system for slow release, and to design delivery vehicles that can improve the circulatory presence of drugs. As the photophysics of organometallic complexes is still not clear, this topic is included to discuss the latest developments in this field, which allows the photochemical reactions at the nanolevel.

**Keywords:** organometallic complexes, nanotechnology, photophysics, drug delivery, upconversion luminescence
