Fac-tricarbonyl(pentylcarbonato)(α-diimine)rhenium complexes: One-pot synthesis, characterization, fluorescence studies, and cytotoxic activity against human MDA-MB-231 breast, CCl-227 colon and BxPC-3 pancreatic carcinoma cell lines

► One-pot synthesis of fac-tricarbonyl(pentylcarbonato)(α-diimine)rhenium complexes. ► Fac-tricarbonyl(pentylcarbonato)(α-diimine)rhenium complexes exhibit fluorescence. ► Fac-tricarbonyl(pentylcarbonato)(α-diimine)rhenium complexes are cytotoxic against breast, colon and pancreatic cancer cells. ► X-ray structure of fac-tricarbonyl(pentylcarbonato)(2,2′-bipyridyl)rhenium. ► X-ray structure of fac-tricarbonyl(pentylcarbonato)(bathophenanthroline)rhenium.