Ruthenium(II) carbonyl complexes containing S-methylisothiosemicarbazone based tetradentate ligand: synthesis, characterization and biological applications

Aseries of hexa-coordinated ruthenium(II) complexes of the type [Ru(CO)(B)L-n] (n = 1-4; B = PPh3, AsPh3 or Py) have been synthesized by reacting dibasic quadridentate Schiff base ligands H2Ln (n = 1-4) with starting complexes [RuHCl(CO) (EPh3)(2)(B)] (E = P or As; B = PPh3, AsPh3 or Py). The synthesized complexes were characterized using elemental and various spectral studies including UV-Vis, FT-IR, NMR (H-1, C-13 and P-31) and mass spectroscopy. An octahedral geometry was tentatively proposed for all the complexes based on the spectral data obtained. The experiments on antioxidant activity showed that the ruthenium(II) S-methylisothiosemicarbazone Schiff base complexes exhibited good scavenging activity against various free radicals (DPPH, OH and NO). The in vitro cytotoxicity of these complexes has been evaluated by MTT assay. The results demonstrate that the complexes have good anticancer activities against selected cancer cell line, human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) and human skin carcinoma cell line (A431). The DNA cleavage studies showed that the complexes have better cleavage of pBR 322 DNA.