Novel ruthenium and palladium complexes as potential anticancer molecules on SCLC and NSCLC cell lines

Lung cancer is one of the major causes of cancer-related deaths in the world. Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer, and small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is the most aggressive subtype of lung cancer. Proper therapies for SCLC have not yet been developed. However, new molecules have been designed and big innovation in treating SCLC has been achieved. Platinum-based antitumor drugs like cisplatin and carboplatin have several disadvantages including side effects, cisplatin-resistant tumors and limited solubility in aqueous media. Thus, two novel chiral aminoalcohol-based bis(phosphinite) ligands containing (η6-p-cymene)-Ru(II)-phosphinite and bis(phosphinite)–Pd(II) complexes were synthesized and evaluated for anticancer activity. In this study, the results showed that complex 1 has the strongest cytotoxic effects on SCLC and NSCLC cell lines. On the other hand, cisplatin, ruthenium and palladium complexes are capable to induce apoptosis. Especially, complexes 1 and 2 can induce apoptosis for both SCLC and NSCLC. When compared to the qRT-PCR and TUNEL results, we obtained a significant correlation between apoptotic index and p21, Bax gene expressions. This work revealed the potential of the synthesized complexes as anticancer agents with cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic activity as leading compounds for further anticancer researches. © 2020, Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences

Ruthenium(0) Nanoparticles Supported on Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube As Highly Active Catalyst for Hydrogen Generation from Ammonia–Borane

Ruthenium(0) nanoparticles supported on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (Ru(0)@MWCNT) were in situ formed during the hydrolysis of ammonia-borane (AB) and could be isolated from the reaction solution by filtration and characterized by ICP-OES, XRD, TEM, SEM, EDX, and XPS techniques. The results reveal that ruthenium(0) nanoparticles of size in the range 1.4-3.0 nm are well-dispersed on multiwalled carbon nanotubes. They were found to be highly active catalyst in hydrogen generation from the hydrolysis of AB with a turnover frequency value of 329 min(-1). The reusability experiments show that Ru(0)@MWCNTs are isolable and redispersible in aqueous solution; when redispersed they are still active catalyst in the hydrolysis of AB exhibiting a release of 3.0 equivalents of H-2 per mole of NH3BH3 and preserving 41% of the initial catalytic activity even after the fourth run of hydrolysis. The lifetime of Ru(0)@MWCNTs was measured as 26400 turnovers over 29 h in the hydrolysis of AB at 25.0 +/- 0.1 degrees C before deactivation. The work reported here also includes the kinetic studies depending on the temperature to determine the activation energy of the reaction (E-a = 33 +/- 2 kJ/mol) and the effect of catalyst concentration on the rate of the catalytic hydrolysis of AB, respectively