Synthesis, characterization and anticancer activity of a Cd(II) complex with in situ formation of (E)-1-(5-chloro-2-hydroxy-benzylideneamino)-pyrrolidin-2-one ligand

A new complex of Cd(II) with (E)-1-(5-chloro-2-hydroxybenzylideneamino)-pyrrolidin-2-one [Cd(L)2⋅2DMF] was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, TG and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Where the HL ligand is formed in situ by the intramolecular nucleophilic substitution of (E)-N′-(5-chloro-2-hydroxybenzyli-dene)-4-(quinolin-8-yloxy)butanehydrazide (H2L′). The cadmium(II) ion is hexacoordinated by two tridentate L− ligands and giving a distorted octahedral coordination geometry. A cytotoxicity of [Cd(L)2⋅2DMF] against liver (SMMC-7721) and cervical (HeLa) cancer cells have been studied. The results revealed that this cadmium(II) complex exhibited an effective and selective anticancer activity against HeLa over SMMC-7721 cell line with IC50 of 1.54 ± 0.25 and 31.02 ± 3.76 μmol/dm−3.