Chlorquinaldol-zinc(II)-bipyridine complexes: Design, synthesis, structure and anticancer evaluation

Non-platinum coordination metal compounds display great potential as antiproliferative drugs. Herein, six chlorquinaldol (H-ClQL) non-Pt-metal complexes, including with [Zn(ClQL)2(CY1)] (CYQ1), [Zn(ClQL)2(CY2)] (CYQ2), [Zn(ClQL)2(CY3)] (CYQ3), [Zn(ClQL)2(CY4)] (CYQ4), [Zn(ClQL)2(CY5)] (CYQ5) and [Zn (ClQL)2(CY6)] (CYQ6) bearing 1,10-phenanthroline (CY1), bathophenanthroline (CY2), 4,4 & PRIME;-dimethyl-2,2 & PRIME;- bipyridyl (CY3), 5,5 & PRIME;-dimethyl-2,2 & PRIME;-bipyridyl (CY4), 4,7-dichloro-1,10-phenanthroline (CY5) and 2,2 & PRIME;-dipyridyl (CY6), have been designed and evaluated for their antitumor effects. Among them, CYQ2 showed higher antitumor efficacy than CYQ1, CYQ3-CYQ6, CY1-CY6 and cisplatin against cisplatin-resistance SK-OV-3/DDP (SKO3CR) cancer cells. Further studies revealed that CYQ2 and CYQ6 suppressed SKO3CR cancer cells by triggering mitochondrial dysfunction. Overall, chlorquinaldol-bipyridine coordination metal compounds CYQ1-CYQ7 can be used as a new Pt-resistant cancer therapy.

Automated summary

This study designed and evaluated six chlorquinaldol non-platinum metal complexes for their antitumor effects. Among them, CYQ2 showed higher antitumor efficacy against cisplatin-resistant cancer cells and further studies revealed that CYQ2 inhibited the cancer cells by triggering mitochondrial dysfunction.