Highly potent anti-proliferative effects of a gallium(III) complex with 7-chloroquinoline thiosemicarbazone as a ligand: Synthesis, cytotoxic and antimalarial evaluation

•Synthesis of 7-chloroquinoline thiosemicarbazone based gallium(III) complex.•The complex exhibited an IC50 value of 0.55 μM against HCT-116 cell line.•The complex is thirty times more potent than etoposide with better selectivity.

A gallium(III) complex with 7-chloroquinoline thiosemicarbazone was synthesized and characterized. The complex proved to be thirty-one times more potent on colon cancer cell line, HCT-116, with considerably less cytotoxicity on non-cancerous colon fibroblast, CCD-18Co, when compared to etoposide. Its anti-malarial potential on 3D7 isolate of Plasmodium falciparum was better than lumefantrine.

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