Pd(II) complexes with chelating N-(1-alkylpyridin-4(1H)-ylidene)amide (PYA) ligands: Synthesis, characterization and evaluation of anticancer activity.

The bidentate N-(1-Alkylpyridin-4(1H)-ylidene)amide (PYA) pro-ligands [HL][Cl] (2), and [HL][TfO] (3) were prepared by simple alkylation reactions of the known compound, N,N-di(pyridin-4-yl)oxalamide (HL, 1). The Pd(II) complexes, [Pd(L)][Cl] (4), [Pd(L)][Cl][TfO] (5), Pd(L)Cl (6) and Pd(L)Cl (7) were synthesized through reactions between these pro-ligands and suitable Pd(II) substrates in the presence of base. The molecular structures of 3 and 6 were obtained by single crystal X-ray structure determinations. Studies of the experimental and computational DNA binding interactions of the compounds 1-7 revealed that overall 4 and 6 have the largest values for the binding parameters K and ΔG. The results showed a good correlation with the steric and electronic parameters obtained by quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) studies. In-vitro cytotoxicity studies against four different cell lines showed that the human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7, T47D and cervical cancer cell line HeLa had either higher or similar sensitivities towards 4, 6 and 2, respectively, compared to cisplatin. In general, the cytotoxicity of the compounds, represented by IC values, decreased in the order 4 > 6 > 2 > 5 > 3 > 1 > 7 in cancer cell lines. Apoptosis contributed significantly to the cytotoxic effects of these anticancer agents as evaluated by apoptosis studies.