The present study describes the synthesis, characterization, antileishmanial and antiplasmodial activities of novel diimine/(2,2′-bipyridine (bipy), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen), 4,4′-methylbipyridine (Me-bipy) and 4,4′-methoxybipyridine (MeO-bipy)/phosphine/ruthenium(II) complexes containing lapachol (Lap, 2-hydroxy-3- The Ru(III) complex, [RuCl 2 (Lap)(dppb)], was also characterized by the EPR technique. The structure of the complexes [Ru(Lap)(PPh 3 ) 2 (bipy)]PF 6 and [RuCl 2 (Lap)(dppb)] was elucidated by X-ray diffraction. The evaluation of the antiparasitic activities of the complexes against Leishmania amazonensis and Plasmodium falciparum demonstrated that lapachol-ruthenium complexes are more potent than the free lapachol. The [RuCl 2 (Lap)(dppb)] complex is the most potent and selective antiparasitic compound among the five new ruthenium complexes studied in this work, exhibiting an activity comparable to the reference drugs.

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Four ruthenium(II)-based complexes with N-(acyl)-N',N'-(disubstituted)thiourea derivatives (Th) were obtained. The compounds, with the general formula trans-[Ru(PPh3)2(Th)(bipy)]PF6, interact with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and DNA. BSA-binding constants, which were in the range of 3.3-6.5×10(4) M(-1), and the thermodynamic parameters (ΔG, ΔH and ΔS), suggest spontaneous interactions with this protein by electrostatic forces due to the positive charge of the complexes. Also, binding constant by spectrophotometric DNA titration (Kb = 0.8-1.8×10(4) M(-1)) and viscosity studies indicate weak interactions between the complexes and DNA. Cytotoxicity assays against DU-145 (prostate cancer) and A549 (lung cancer) tumour cells revealed that the complexes are more active in tumour cells than in normal (L929) cells, and that they present high cytotoxicity (low IC50 values) compared with the reference metallodrug, cisplatin.

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Ru(ii)/2-mercaptopyrimidine complexes active against cancer cells did not present toxic effects during embryonic and larval development of zebrafish.

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Ru(ii)/lapachol complex shows significant selectivity for triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) compared to the non-tumor human breast epithelial cell line.