Anticancer, antifungal and antibacterial potential of bis(β-ketoiminato) ruthenium(II) carbonyl complexes

Herein we report a library of new ruthenium(II) complexes which incorporate a range of functionalised beta-ketoiminate ligands. The complexes undergo an unusual reduction from Ru(III) to Ru(II), and consequently incorporate carbonyl ligands from the 2-ethoxyethanol solvent, forming ruthenium(II) dicarbonyl complexes. In order to address the potential applications of these complexes, we have screened the library against a range of tumour cell lines, however, all compounds exhibit low cellular activity and this is tentatively assigned to the decomposition of the compounds in aqueous media. Studies to establish the antifungal and antibacterial potential of these complexes was addressed and show increased growth inhibitions for C. neoformans and S. aureus species.