Novel ruthenium methylcyclopentadienyl complex bearing a bipyridine perfluorinated ligand shows strong activity towards colorectal cancer cells

Three new compounds have been synthesized and completely characterized by analytical and spectroscopic techniques. The new bipyridine-perfluorinated ligand L1 and the new organometallic complex [Ru(eta(5)-MeCp)(PPh3)(2)Cl] (Ru1) crystalize in the centrosymmetric triclinic space group P (1) over bar. Analysis of the phenotypic effects induced by both organometallic complexes Ru1 and [Ru(eta(5)-MeCp)(PPh3)(L1)] [CF3SO3] (Ru2), on human colorectal cancer cells (SW480 and RKO) survival, showed that Ru2 has a potent anti-proliferative activity, 4-6 times higher than cisplatin, and induce apoptosis in these cells. Data obtained in a noncancerous cell line derived from normal colon epithelial cells (NCM460) revealed an intrinsic selectivity of Ru2 for malignant cells at low concentrations, showing the high potential of this compound as a selective anticancer agent. (C) 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.