Synthesis of a novel nitrogen mustard-conjugated bis-terpyridine ruthenium(II) complex as a potent anticancer agent that induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis

A fairly small-sized aryl nitrogen mustard-conjugated terpyridine is synthesized in only two steps as a ligand to chelate with RuCl3 to afford a [Ru(tpy-CM)(2)]Cl-2 complex. This complex exhibits prominent antiproliferative activity toward several tumor cells. Further studies conclusively show that the complex suppresses human renal clear cell carcinoma cells (786-O cells) by inducing G1 phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. This work provides a synthetic and therapeutic model for nitrogen mustard-containing metal complexes.

Automated summary

In this study, a fairly small-sized aryl nitrogen mustard-conjugated terpyridine ligand was synthesized in only two steps to chelate with RuCl3 and form a [Ru(tpy-CM)(2)]Cl-2 complex. This complex showed prominent antiproliferative activity against several tumor cells, particularly human renal clear cell carcinoma cells, by inducing G1 phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis.