Synthesis, Characterization, and Anticancer Activity of a Series of Ketone‑N⁴‑Substituted Thiosemicarbazones and Their Ruthenium(II) Arene Complexes

A series of ketone-N⁴-substituted thiosemicarbazone (TSC) compounds (<b>L1–L9</b>) and their corresponding [(η⁶-<i>p</i>-cymene)­Ru^II(TSC)­Cl]^+/0 complexes (<b>1</b>–<b>9</b>) were synthesized and characterized by NMR, IR, elemental analysis, and HR-ESI-mass spectrometry. The molecular structures of <b>L4</b>, <b>L9</b>, <b>1</b>–<b>6</b>, and <b>9</b> were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The compounds were further evaluated for their <i>in vitro</i> antiproliferative activities against the SGC-7901 human gastric cancer, BEL-7404 human liver cancer, and HEK-293T noncancerous cell lines. Furthermore, the interactions of the compounds with DNA were followed by electrophoretic mobility spectrometry studies