Anthracene-Tethered Ruthenium(II) Arene Complexes as Tools To Visualize the Cellular Localization of Putative Organometallic Anticancer Compounds

Anthracene derivatives of ruthenium(II) arene compounds with 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphatricyclo[3.3.1.1]decane (pta) or a sugar phosphite ligand, viz., 3,5,6-bicyclophosphite1,2-O-isopropylidene-alpha-D-glucofuranoside, were prepared in order to evaluate their anticancer properties compared to the parent compounds and to use them as models for intracellular visualization by fluorescence microscopy. Similar IC50 values were obtained in cell proliferation assays, and similar levels of uptake and accumulation were also established. The X-ray structure of [{Ru(eta(6)-C6H5CH2NHCO-anthracene)Cl-2(pta)] is also reported.