Imino-phosphine palladium(II) and platinum(II) complexes: Synthesis, molecular structures and evaluation as antitumor agents

• Imino-phosphine palladium(II) and platinum(II) complexes were successfully synthesized.
• The structures complexes 2, 3 and 4 were confirmed by X-ray crystallography.
• The complexes exhibited growth inhibitory activities that were superior to cisplatin.

The imino-phosphine ligands L1 and L2 were prepared via condensation reaction of 2-(diphenylphosphino)benzaldehyde with substituted anilines and obtained in very good yields. An equimolar reaction of L1 and L2 with either PdCl2(cod) or PtCl2(cod) gave new palladium(II) and platinum(II) complexes 1–4. The compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, 1H and 31P NMR spectroscopy. The molecular structures of 2, 3 and 4 were confirmed by X-ray crystallography. All the three molecular structures crystallized in monoclinic C2/c space system. The coordination geometry around the palladium and platinum atoms in respective structures exhibited distorted square planar geometry at the metal centers. The complexes were evaluated in vitro for their cytotoxic activity against human breast (MCF-7) and human colon (HT-29) cancer cells, and they exhibited growth inhibitory activities and selectivity that were superior to the standard compound cisplatin.

Imino-phosphine palladium(II) and platinum(II) complexes 1–4 are reported. Their molecular structures were confirmed by X-ray crystallography, which revealed distorted square planar coordination geometry around the metal atoms. The complexes exhibited growth inhibitory activities superior to cisplatin against the examined cell lines.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide