Anti-tumour active gold(I), palladium(II) and ruthenium(II) complexes with thio- and selenoureato ligands: a comparative study

We report the results of a comparative study of the biological activity of a series of gold(i), palladium(ii) and ruthenium(ii) complexes containing deprotonated thio- and selenoureato ligands. A library of compounds was prepared and characterised by spectroscopic methods and the solid-state structures of several derivatives were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The in vitro activity of these compounds was evaluated in mammary and ovarian carcinoma, acute lymphatic and acute and chronic myeloid leukemia cell lines. At lower concentrations Ru- and Pd-containing compounds displayed stronger anti-cancer effects than the gold compounds. In all cases, the selenium derivatives proved to be more active than the corresponding sulfur compounds.