Planar Chiral Ferrocene Cyclopalladated Derivatives Induce Caspase-Dependent Apoptosis and Antimetastasis in Cancer Cells

A series of planar chiral ferrocene cydopalladated compounds were synthesized and characterized. The absolute configurations of four compounds were determined by single-crystal X-ray analysis. The cytotoxic activities of the synthesized compounds and cisplatin exhibited different inhibition potencies on the viability of human liver, breast, and colon cancer cell lines. The dinuclear compound 7 was 16-fold more potent than cisplatin in hepatoma cells. Compound 7 was also more effective than cisplatin in the inhibition of hepatoma cell metastasis. Flow cytometry analysis and caspase activity assays indicated that compound 7 exerted antiproliferative activity in cancer cells through the induction of caspase-dependent apoptosis