Dinuclear arene ruthenium thiolato complexes with fluorous side-chains

•Synthesis and characterization of dinuclear trithiolato arene ruthenium complexes.•Incorporation of fluorous side-chains increases the lipophilicity.•The dinuclear complexes show high cytotoxicity to cancerous cells.•The dinuclear complexes exhibit some selectivity for cancerous over healthy cells.

Four complexes of the general formula [(η6-p-MeC6H4Pri)2Ru2(μ-SC2H4R)3]+, R = (CF2)7CF3 (1), (CF2)5CF3 (2), (CF2)3CF3 (3) and (CH2)5CH3 (4) were synthesized and characterized. The molecular structures of complexes 1 and 3 were confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of their chloride salts. Complexes 3 and 4 were evaluated for their antiproliferative activity against human ovarian cancer A2780 and A2780cisR cell lines and against the non-tumorigenic HEK293 cell line. Complexes 3 and 4 are highly cytotoxic (IC50 values in the nanomolar range) and exhibit a slight selectivity for cancer cells over the model healthy cells.

Graphical abstractDinuclear arene ruthenium thiolato-bridged complexes were synthesized and isolated as their chloride salts. All complexes were fully characterized by standard techniques. The antiproliferative activity against cancerous and non-cancerous cell lines was evaluated. Two complexes are highly cytotoxic, and they both possess a slight selectivity for cancer cells over healthy cells.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide