Cancer is a multistep disease incorporating physical, chemical, environmental, metabolic and genetic factors, which play direct or indirect role in the induction and deterioration of cancer. Many of the platinum based drugs were synthesized but due to their systemic toxicity, broad spectrum of action, intrinsic and acquired drug resistivity, it has become necessary to search for the effective anticancer drugs with superior efficiency. Among non-platinum metal compounds with antitumor activity, organotin complexes have proven effective management of toxicity, specific targeted drug uptake by the cancerous cell line and significant potential in the pharmaceutical chemistry. So this article provides a critical review from 2010 onwards of the anticancer activity of the organotin complexes reported by the authors worldwide and explores the landmarks for their future projection as novel anticancer chemotypes with high therapeutic indices.

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Mononuclear transition metal(II) complexes of the type M(L)2⋅2H2O (where M = Co, Ni, Cu, Zn) have been synthesized from uninegative Schiff base ligands (HL1–HL4) designed by condensation of 4‐fluorobenzylamine with 2‐hydroxy‐1‐naphthaldehyde/3,5‐dichlorosalicylaldehyde/3,5‐dibromosalicylaldehyde/3‐bromo‐5‐chlorosalicylaldehyde. The compounds were successfully characterized using spectroscopic and physiochemical methods together with elemental analysis. Spectroscopic elucidation indicates a monobasic bidentate nature of ligands coordinated via deprotonated phenolic oxygen and azomethine nitrogen atom which suggests an octahedral geometry around the central metal ions. The complexes and ligands were screened for their in vitro antimicrobial activity against bacterial and fungal strains, the zinc(II) complexes being more active against the tested microbial strains. Further, the metal complexes were found to be more active than the uncomplexed ligands due to chelation process and, moreover, the complexes were more active against fungal strains than bacterial strains. Cytotoxic activities of all compounds were evaluated towards human alveolar adenocarcinoma epithelial cell line (A549), human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF7), human prostate cancer cell line (DU145) and one normal human lung cell line (MRC‐5) using MTT colorimetric assay with doxorubicin as a standard. The zinc complexes were most active against the cancer cell lines and also found to be less toxic against MRC‐5 normal cell line than standard doxorubicin.

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A series (1–20) of diorganotin (IV) complexes with general formula R2SnL were formed by the reaction of R2SnCl2 (where R = Me, Et, Bu and Ph) with Schiff base ligands (H2L1–4) derived from the reaction of indole‐3‐butyric hydrazide with the salicylaldehyde and its derivatives. The structure elucidation of compounds were done by using UV–Vis, FT‐IR, NMR (1H, 13C, 119Sn), Mass spectrometry and thermal gravimetric analysis. Spectroscopic evidences suggested tridentate nature (ONO) of Schiff base ligands and coordinated to the dialkyl/diaryltin (IV) moieties through nitrogen and oxygen donor sites giving pentacoordinated geometry to complexes. The compounds were tested for the antimicrobial activity against bacterial and fungal strains which showed promising biological activity with compound 20 (Ph2SnL4) as most active against microbes. The in silico study of the compounds was carried and observed that the compounds are used as orally active drugs and promote the formation of different hydrazide based drugs. The synthesized compounds were tested against human carcinoma cell lines namely A549, MCF7 and one normal cell line IMR 90 using MTT assay. The diethyl and dibutyltin complexes of Schiff bases displayed good cytotoxic activities. Compound 3 (H2L3) and 10 (Et2SnL2) were most potent against cancer cell lines with lowest IC50 values and 7–8 times less toxic against the normal cell line.