(Pyrazolyl)pyridine ruthenium(III) complexes: Synthesis, kinetics of substitution reactions with thiourea and biological studies

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Reactions of 2-bromo-6-(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine (L1), 2,6-di (1H-pyrazol-1-yl) pyridine (L2) and 2,6-bis(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)pyridine (L3) with RuCl3·3H2O led to the formation of their respective metal complexes [RuCl3(L1)] (1), [RuCl3(L2)] (2) and [RuCl3(L3)] (3). Solid state structure of complex 3 established the formation of a six-coordinate mononuclear compound in which L3 is tridentately bound. The order of reactivity of the studied complexes with thiourea (TU) nucleophile is in the form 1 > 2 > 3, in line with density functional theory (DFT) studies. The complexes displayed minimal cytotoxic activity against the HeLa cell line, consistent with molecular docking experiments which showed weaker DNA binding affinities.