(Benzyl isocyanide)gold(I) pyrimidine-2-thiolate complex: Synthesis and biological activity

by Fereidoonnezhad, Masood; Shahsavari, Hamid R.; Lotfi, Elaheh; Babaghasabha, Mojgan; Fakhri, Motahareh; Faghih, Zeinab; Faghih, Zahra; Beyzavi, M. Hassan

The reaction of [(Me2S)AuCl] with an equimolar amount of benzyl isocyanide (PhCH2NC) ligand led to the formation of complex [(PhCH2NC)AuCl] (1). The solid-state structure of 1 was determined using the X-ray diffraction method. Through a salt metathesis reaction, the chloride ligand in 1 was replaced by pyrimidine-2-thiolate (SpyN(-)) to afford the complex [(PhCH2NC)Au((1)-S-Spy)] (2), which was characterized spectroscopically. The cytotoxic activities of 1 and 2 were evaluated against three human cancer cell lines: ovarian carcinoma (SKOV3), lung carcinoma (A549) and breast carcinoma (MCF-7). Complex 2 showed higher cytotoxicity than cisplatin against SKOV3 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines. It showed a strong anti-proliferative activity with IC50 of 7.80, 6.26 and 6.14 M, compared with that measured for cisplatin which was 7.62, 12.36 and 11.47 M, against A549, SKOV3 and MCF-7 cell lines, respectively. The induction of cellular apoptosis by 2 was also studied on MCF-7 cell line. Our results indicated that 2 could induce apoptosis in cancerous cells in a dose-dependent manner.

Journal
Applied Organometallic Chemistry
Volume
32
Issue
3
Year
2018
URL
https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aoc.4200
ISBN/ISSN
1099-0739; 0268-2605
DOI
10.1002/aoc.4200