Binuclear Heteroleptic Ru(III) Dithiocarbamate Complexes: A Step towards Tunable Antiproliferative Agents

Binuclear dithiocarbamate complexes of Ru(III) are promising candidates in the search for outstanding metal-based anticancer agents. While different dithiocarbamates have shown ligand-dependent cytotoxicity in homoleptic binuclear Ru(III) complexes, the properties of heteroleptic analogues with different dithiocarbamate (DTC) ligands have yet to be explored. We herein propose the introduction of heteroleptic ligands as tunable features for the development of improved ruthenium-based antiproliferative agents and report a synthetic strategy for their synthesis as well as the evaluation of the cytotoxic activity of a selection of binuclear heteroleptic Ru(III) compounds towards MDA-MB-231 and PC3 cells.

Automated summary

Binuclear dithiocarbamate complexes of Ru(III) have shown promise as potential metal-based anticancer agents. This study proposes the use of heteroleptic ligands as tunable features to develop improved ruthenium-based antiproliferative agents. The cytotoxic activity of a selection of binuclear heteroleptic Ru(III) compounds towards MDA-MB-231 and PC3 cells was evaluated.