Reactivity and Antiproliferative Activity of Ferrocenyl-Tamoxifen Adducts with Cyclodextrins against Hormone-Independent Breast-Cancer Cell Lines

Hydroxyferrocifen compounds are a new and promising class of ferrocifen-type breast-cancer drug candidates. They possess both endocrine-modulating properties and cytotoxic activity, which come from the tamoxifen skeleton and the presence of a ferrocene moiety, respectively. However, they suffer from reduced solubility in water, which presents a problem for their eventual therapeutic use. Herein, we examined the interactions of hydroxyferrocifen compounds with cyclodextrins (CDs) to evaluate whether or not their electron-transfer oxidation pathways were affected by their inclusion. It has been demonstrated that these inclusion complexes are soluble in pure water, which shows that CDs can be used to deliver these biologically active molecules. Therefore, a series of these compounds has been investigated by cyclic voltametry in various media in the presence of CDs (P-CD and Me-beta-CD). In methanol, the hydroxyferrocifen compounds exhibited a weak interaction with the CD cavity. These interactions became stronger as the amount of added water increased. The complexation effect between the hydroxyferrocifen compounds and beta-CD was found to be stronger if the CD was partially methylated, which is probably due to hydrophobic effects between the cyclopentadienyl ring and/or the aromatic rings and the methoxy groups. Moreover, it appears that the structure of the hydroxyferrocifen compounds affects both their solubility and their complexation dynamics. Investigations in the presence of pyridine show that the base kinetically favors the dissociation of the ferrocifen-CD complex during the electron transfer step, but does not affect the follow-up reactivity of the electrogenerated ferrocenium cation, which leads eventually to the corresponding quinone methide, as reported in the absence of CD. Accordingly, the cytotoxicity of these beta-CD-encapsulated organometallic complexes in hormone-independent breast-cancer cells (MDA-MB231) were confirmed to be similar to those obtained in the absence of cyclodextrin.