New ruthenium(II) coordination compounds possessing bidentate aminomethylphosphane ligands: synthesis, characterization and preliminary biological study in vitro

Addition of aminomethylphosphane P{CH2N(CH2CH2)2O}3 (), PPh2{CH2N(CH2CH2)2O} () or PPh2{CH2N(CH2CH2)2NCH2CH3} () to a methanolic solution of RuCl3 results in reduction of ruthenium(iii) ions giving finally ttt-[RuCl2()2] (), ttt-[RuCl2()2] () and ttt-[RuCl2()2] (). The synthesized complexes are the first examples of ruthenium(ii) coordination compounds possessing aminomethylphosphanes chelating via phosphorus and nitrogen atoms. They were fully characterized (NMR, ESI-MS, IR, elemental analysis, X-ray crystallography). Preliminary studies of the in vitro cytotoxicity on the A549 cell line (human lung adenocarcinoma) and interactions with human serum proteins (albumin and apotransferrin) showed moderate activity of the complexes. Interestingly, the P,N-chelation leads to formation of strained 4-membered Ru-P-C-N-Ru rings, which in the case of and undergo opening in the presence of CH3CN, which results in rearrangement to ctc-[RuCl2()2(CH3CN)2] () and ctc-[RuCl2()2(CH3CN)2] ().

Syntheses and Molecular Structure of Some Rh and Ru Complexes with the Chelating Diphenyl (2-Pyridyl)phosphine Ligand

The rhodium(III) complex mer,cis-[RhCl3(PPh2py-P,N)(PPh2py-P)] (1) (PPh2py = diphenyl (2-pyridyl)phosphine) has been prepared from RhCl3 x 3H2O and PPh2py and converted to the trans,cis-[RhCl2(PPh2py-P,N)2]PF6 (2) in acetone solution by treatment with Ag+ and PF6(-). Ruthenium(III) and ruthenium(II) compounds with PPh2py, mer,cis-[RuCl3(PPh2py-P,N)(PPh2py-P)] (3) and mer-[RuCl(PPh2py-P,N)2(PPh2py-P)]Cl (5) have been obtained from DMSO precursor complexes. In a chloroform solution, complex (5) isomerizes to fac-[RuCl(PPh2py-P,N)2(PPh2py-P)]Cl (fac-5). All compounds have been characterized by MS, UV-vis, IR, and 1H and 31P{1H} NMR spectroscopy, and the Ru(III) compound has been characterized by EPR spectroscopy as well. The crystal structures of 1, 2, 3, and fac-5 have been determined. In all compounds under investigation, at least one pyridylphosphine acts as a chelate ligand. The 31P chemical shifts for chelating PPh2py-P,N depend on the Ru-P bond lengths.