Organometallic Half-Sandwich Dichloridoruthenium(II) Complexes with 7-Azaindoles: Synthesis, Characterization and Elucidation of Their Anticancer Inactivity against A2780 Cell Line

PLoS One. 2015 Nov 25;10(11):e0143871. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143871. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

A series of organometallic half-sandwich dichloridoruthenium(II) complexes of the general formula [Ru(η6-p-cym)(naza)Cl2] (1-8; p-cym = p-cymene; naza = 7-azaindole or its derivatives) was synthesised and fully characterized by elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, and infrared and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy. A single-crystal X-ray structural analysis of [Ru(η6-p-cym)(2Me4Claza)Cl2] (6) revealed a typical piano-stool geometry with an N7-coordination mode of 2-methyl-4-chloro-7-azaindole (2Me4Claza). The complexes have been found to be inactive against human ovarian cancer cell line A2780 up to the highest applied concentration (IC50 > 50.0 μM). An inactivity of the complexes is caused by their instability in water-containing solvents connected with a release of the naza N-donor ligand, as proved by the detailed 1H NMR, mass spectrometry and fluorescence experiments.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Humans
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Structure
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Program of Sustainability I (LO1305) of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (www.msmt.cz), the Palacký University in Olomouc (IGA_PrF_2015_019, www.upol.cz) and the X-ray Diffraction and BioSAXS Core Facility of CEITEC-Central European Institute of Technology under CEITEC-open access project, ID number LM2011020, funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (www.msmt.cz).