Abstract:
Four new ruthenium arene PTA type complexes have been synthesized using substituted picolinamide
derivatives as ancillary ligands and characterized by spectroscopic methods. In one of the complexes, the
ancillary ligand has shown an unprecedented valence-bond tautomerization in the presence of an
ammonium salt to act as a polar neutral donor ligand making the ligand more prone towards substitution.
The same compound has shown remarkable antiproliferative activity against three cancer cell lines with
GI50 values comparable to Adriamycin, a known therapeutic drug. Along with this it also strongly inhibits
the action of thioredoxin reductase, which might be a probable reason for the enhanced proliferative
action of the valence-bond tautomerized compound.
