Anticancer Activity and Catalytic Potential of Ruthenium(II)–Arene Complexes with N,O-Donor Ligands

Abstract

The special ability of organometallic complexes to catalyze various transformations might offer new effective mechanisms for the treatment of cancer. Studies that report both the biological properties and the ability of metallic complexes to promote therapeutically relevant catalytic reactions are limited. Herein, we report the anticancer activity and catalytic potential of some ruthenium(II)-arene complexes bearing bidentate Schiff base ligands (2a and 2b) and their reduced analogues (5a and 5b, respectively). In comparison to their Schiff base counterparts 2a and 2b, we demonstrate that amine complexes 5a and 5b display (i) a higher in vitro antiproliferative activity on different human cancer cell lines, (ii) a lower rate of hydrolysis, and (iii) an improved initial catalytic rate for the reduction of NAD to NADH. In contrast to their imine analogues 2a and 2b, we also show that amine complexes 5a and 5b induce the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Our results highlight the impact that a simple ligand modification such as the reduction of an imine moiety can have on both the catalytic and biological activities of metal complexes. Moreover, the ruthenium complexes reported here display some antiproliferative activity against T47D breast cancer cells, known for their cis-platin resistance.

Ruthenium(II) Complexes as Potential Apoptosis Inducers in Cancer Therapy

“…In the research for effective complexes that can be targeted against tumor cells, many groups of researchers synthesized various ruthenium(II) complexes with different ligands (51)(52)(53). The first ruthenium(II) arene complexes reported is [Ru( 6-C 6 H 6 )(DMSO)C l2 ].…”

Luminescent fac-[Re(CO)3(phen)] carboxylato complexes with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: synthesis and mechanistic insights into the in vitro anticancer activity of fac-[Re(CO)3(phen)(aspirin)]

“…The compounds display moderately intense luminescence with a broad emission band centered at 640 nm when measured in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) at ambient temperature. This emission is assigned as phosphorescence from the lowest 3 MLCT state. [49][50][51][52][53][54]57 The decay times (in DMSO) are in the range of a few tens of nanoseconds in degassed solution.…”

“…Inorganic and organometallic compounds have successfully entered the field of biology and medicinal sciences in many aspects. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Coordination of the metal center or a metalcontaining fragment to a biomolecule very often allows for beneficial tuning of biological (e.g. anticancer or antibacterial) properties.…”

Crystal structure of trans-tetrakis(acetonitrile-κN)bis(triphenylphosphine-κP)ruthenium(II) dihexafluorophosphate - dichloroform (1/2), C46H44Cl6F12N4P4Ru

“…Ruthenium complexes have been attracted a lot of interest because of their catalytic, biological and pharmaceutical properties [5][6][7]. Ruthenium complexes containing CH 3 CN ligands have been considered as good precursors to synthesize a large amount of Ru complexes with other donor ligands [8][9][10].…”