Ruthenium compounds: Are they the next‐era anticancer agents?

Abstract

This study focuses on the cytotoxic activity of ruthenium(II) complexes, denoted as Ru1–8, which exhibit coordination with nitrogen (amine and amide), oxygen, and sulfur donor atoms, coupled with aryl and aliphatic wingtips. Specifically, the complexes were evaluated for their impact on the MCF‐7 breast cancer cell line. A systematic exploration of various parameters, including solubility, donor atom type, metal number, carbon chain length, aromatic ring presence, and molecular weight, was conducted to discern their influence on cytotoxic activity. The investigation involved assessing the cell viability across five concentrations (100, 50, 25, 10, and 5 μM) for five distinct monometallic and three bimetallic ruthenium complexes. Notably, Ru3, characterized by an extended carbon chain length (dodecyl) and favorable oil solubility facilitating cellular membrane penetration, demonstrated particularly promising results with the IC50 value of 1.03 μM. This research underscores the critical role of ligand design in shaping the cytotoxic potential of ruthenium(II) complexes and emphasizes the suitability of the Ru(II) p‐cymene complexes, as demonstrated by their robust activity against breast cancer in this specific investigation.