Ruthenium complexes are often investigated as potential replacements for platinum-based chemotherapeutics in hopes of identifying systems with improved tolerability in vivo and reduced susceptibility to cellular resistance mechanisms. Inspired by phenanthriplatin, a non-traditional platinum agent that contains only one labile ligand, monofunctional ruthenium polypyridyl agents have been developed, but until now, few demonstrated promising anticancer activity. Here we introduce a potent new scaffold, based on [Ru(tpy)(dip)Cl]Cl (tpy = 2,2':6',2''-terpyridine and dip = 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline) in pursuit of effective Ru(ii)-based monofunctional agents. Notably, the extension of the terpyridine at the 4' position with an aromatic ring resulted in a molecule that was cytotoxic in several cancer cell lines with sub-micromolar IC50 values, induced ribosome biogenesis stress, and exhibited minimal zebrafish embryo toxicity. This study demonstrates the successful design of a Ru(ii) agent that mimics many of the biological effects and phenotypes seen with phenanthriplatin, despite numerous differences in both the ligands and metal center structure.
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