Cytotoxicity of Ruthenium(II) Arene Complexes Containing Functionalized Ferrocenyl β-Diketonate Ligands

Matthew Allison, Pablo Caramés-Méndez, Benjamin J. Hofmann, Christopher M. Pask, Roger M. Phillips, Rianne M. Lord, Patrick C. McGowan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The synthesis and characterization of 24 ruthenium(II) arene complexes of the type [(p-cym)RuCl(Fc-acac)] (where p-cym = p-cymene and Fc-acac = functionalized ferrocenyl β-diketonate ligands) are reported, including single-crystal X-ray diffraction for 21 new complexes. Chemosensitivity studies have been conducted against human pancreatic carcinoma (MIA PaCa-2), human colorectal adenocarcinoma p53-wildtype (HCT116 p53+/+) and normal human retinal epithelial cell lines (APRE-19). The most active complex, which contains a 2-furan-substituted ligand (4), is 5x more cytotoxic than the analogs 3-furan complex (5) against MIA PaCa-2. Several complexes were screened under hypoxic conditions and at shorter-time incubations, and their ability to damage DNA was determined by the comet assay. Compounds were also screened for their potential to inhibit the growth of both bacterial and fungal strains.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1869-1881
Number of pages13
JournalOrganometallics
Volume42
Issue number15
Early online date5 Jul 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 Aug 2023

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