p-Cymene Complexes of Ruthenium(II) as Antitumor Agents

Abstract

In this work, the cytotoxic behavior of six ruthenium(II) complexes of stoichiometry [(η⁶-<i>p</i>-cymene)RuCl₂L] (I-VI), L = 4-cyanopyridine (I), 2-aminophenol (II), 4-aminophenol (III), pyridazine (IV), and [(<i>η⁶</i>-<i>p</i>-cymene)RuClL₂]PF₆; L = cyanopyridine (V), L = 2-aminophenol(VI) towards three cell lines was studied. Two of them, HeLa and MCF-7, are human carcinogenic cells from cervical carcinoma and human breast cancer, respectively. A comparison with healthy cells was carried out with BGM cells which are monkey epithelial cells of renal origin. The behavior of complex II exhibits selectivity towards healthy cells, which is a promising feature for use in cancer treatment since it might reduce the side effects of most current therapies.