Polypyridyl coordinated rhenium(I) tricarbonyl complexes as model devices for cancer diagnosis and treatment

This study reports on three new crystal structures, fac-[Re(CO)3(5,5′-DiMBpy)(NO3)] (2a), fac-[Re(CO)3(4,4′-DiMoxBpy)(NO3)][(CH3)2CO] (3a) and fac-[Re(CO)3(4,4′-DiMBpy)(Br)] (4). A 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay showed considerable cytotoxicity for fac-[Re(CO)3(4,4′-DiMoxBpy)(Br)] (6) with IC50 = 10.92 ± 2.3 µM against MDA-MB-231 cells (SI = 1.55) and IC50 = 16.25 ± 1.9 µM against (MRC-5); fac-[Re(CO)3(5,5′-DiMBpy)(CyPh2P][NO3] (13) had IC50 = 5.74 ± 2.5 µM against MCF-7 cells (SI = 2.62).