Novel triorganotin complexes based on phosphonic acid ligands: Syntheses, structures and in vitro cytostatic activity

Abstract

Six novel organotin phosphonate complexes, [(Me3Sn)4(HL1)4]n1, [(Me3Sn)2(HL2)2]n2, [(Me3Sn)2L3(H2O)]n3, [(Ph3Sn)(HL1)]64, [(Ph3Sn)2L2]n5 and [(Ph3Sn)2L3]66, derived from phosphonic acid ligands [NaHL1 = 1-C10H7OPO2(OH)Na, H2L2 = 1-C10H7PO(OH)2, H2L3 = 2-C10H7PO(OH)2], have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR, NMR (1H, 13C, 31P and 119Sn) spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. The structural analysis reveals that complexes 1 and 5 display 1D infinite zig-zag chain structures, and complex 2 shows 1D right-handed helical chain structure, while complex 3 displays 1D left-handed helical chain structure. Complexes 4 and 6 are 24-membered macrocyclic rings interconnected by P, O and Sn atoms. Additionally, the molecules of complexes 1 and 3 are further linked through intermolecular π···π and O-H···O interaction into supramolecular structures, respectively. Furthermore, we preliminarily estimated in vitro cytostatic activity of complexes 1–6 against the human cervix tumor cells (HeLa), human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG-2) and human normal breast cells (HBL-100). Importantly, the anti-proliferative properties and possible pathway of complex 6 are investigated, and the results demonstrate that complex 6 could induce apoptotic cell death via an overload of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and the dysfunctional depolarization of mitochondrial membranes.