In vitro anti-proliferative activity of novel hexacoordinated triphenyltin(IV) trifluoroacetate containing a bidentate N-donor ligand

The discovery of the antitumor activity of cisplatin led several research groups to investigate the possible therapeutic applications of other metal based compounds. In an attempt to develop novel metal based drugs with a different therapeutic profile to cisplatin, we have synthesized a new N,N-chelated organotin(IV) trifluoroacetate by the reaction of Ph3SnOCOCF3 with equimolar amounts of 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Neocuproine). The complex is characterized by FT-IR and multinuclear NMR (H-1, C-13, F-19 and Sn-119). FT-IR results authenticate the ligand coordination to the organotin moiety via nitrogen atoms. Furthermore, the cytotoxic activity of the free ligand (Neocuproine) and triorganotin(IV) complex towards human cervix carcinoma HeLa, human myelogenous leukemia K562 and normal immunocompetent cells, peripheral blood mononuclear cells PBMC is evaluated by the MTT (3-[4,5-dimetylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) method. The complex exhibits higher activities than antitumor drug cisplatin in all the tested cell lines. These results indicate that the studied triorganotin(IV) complex can be a potential anticancer agent for further stages of screening in vitro and/or in vivo.