Cobalt-alkyne complexes with imidazoline ligands as estrogenic carriers: synthesis and pharmacological investigations

Abstract

We synthesized (4R,5S)/(4S,5R)-N-propargyl-4,5-bis(2-chloro-4-methoxy/hydroxyphenyl)-2-imidazolines (1 and 2) as estrogenic carriers for the dicobalthexacarbonyl fragment. The OH-substituted ligand 2 and its related complex 2-Co(2)(CO)(6) showed estrogenic activity in a transcriptional assay in ERalpha-containing MCF-7-2a cells. The cytotoxicity against breast cancer cell lines was more pronounced for the related O-methyl derivative 1-Co(2)(CO)(6). Further pharmacological investigations were performed on the cellular uptake into MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, the ability of binding to DNA, and the inactivation by HSA.