Antiproliferative activity of chelating N,O- and N,N-ruthenium(II) arene functionalised poly(propyleneimine) dendrimer scaffolds

Chelating neutral (N,O) and cationic (N,N) first-and second-generation ruthenium(II) arene metallodendrimers based on poly(propyleneimine) dendrimer scaffolds were obtained from dinuclear arene ruthenium precursors by reactions with salicylaldimine and iminopyridyl dendritic ligands, respectively. The N, N cationic complexes were isolated as hexafluorophosphate salts and were characterised by NMR and IR spectroscopy, and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Related mononuclear complexes were obtained in a similar manner and their molecular structures have been determined by X-ray diffraction analysis. The cytotoxicities of the mono-and multinuclear complexes were established using A2780 and A2780cisR human ovarian carcinoma cancer cell lines.