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Updated: Apr 14, 2026

The Synthesis, Characterization and Reactivity of a Series of Ruthenium N-triphosPh Complexes
Published on: April 10, 2015
Cytotoxic potency of self-assembled Ruthenium(II)-NHC complexes with pincer type 2,
Gourisannkar Roymahapatra, Joydev Dinda, Anjan Mishra
1Central Research Facility, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, India.
Objective:
To study the cytotoxic potency of self-assembled Ruthenium(II)-NHC complexes with 2,6-di-(N-methylimidazolylidene/benzimidazolylidene)pyrazine ligands.
Materials And Methods:
Ru(II)-N-heterocyclic (Ru-NHC) complexes, Bis-[2,6-di-(N-methylimidazol-2-ylidene)pyrazine]ruthenium(II) hexaflurophosphate (3), Bis-[2,6-di-(N-methylbenzimidazol-2-ylidene)pyrazine]ruthenium(II) hexaflurophosphate (4) have been synthesized from corresponding ligands 2,6-di-(N-methylimidazolium)pyrazine dichloride (1); 2,6-di-(N-methylbenzimidazolium)pyrazine dichloride (2). Complexes were studied to determine their pro-apoptotic activity against HCT15 and Hep2 cell lines, and antimicrobial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Candida albicans.
Results:
Both, complex 3 and 4, formed a nanosphere structure in aqueous growth medium. Cytotoxicity study revealed that complex 3 was more effective than complex 4. Complexes mainly target cellular DNA and bacterial cell wall.
Conclusion:
This is the first report on the formation of nanoball structure of Ru(II)-NHC complexes. Thus, complex 3 provides a new insight to develop antitumor or antimicrobial drug.
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