Cytotoxicity of Mechanochemically Prepared Cu(II) Complexes

Despite evidence that mechanochemistry has the potential to be a revolutionary manufacturing technique, the Pharma industry is still reluctant to introduce these new technologies into their manufacturing processes. Therefore, it is now time to pioneer the implementation of mechanochemistry in industry, by analyzing the bioactive and physicochemical properties of mechanochemical products. Herein, we report the mechanochemical synthesis of a Cu(II) metallodrug that has been previously investigated in the solution. Interestingly, we found that ball milling leads to the formation of a novel Cu(II) complex of octahedral geometry, whereas conventional synthesis resulted in a square-pyramidal complex. In addition, we report for the first time, the enhanced cytotoxicity of this Cu(II) metallodrug, toward ovarian cancer cell lines, as a result of its mechanochemical preparation.