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Synthesis, structure and anticancer activity of (η6-benzene) ruthenium(II) complexes containing aroylhydrazone ligands

Accepted Manuscript 6 Synthesis, structure and anticancer activity of (η -benzene) ruthenium(II) complexes containing aroylhydrazone ligands Nanjan Mohan, Subramanian Muthumari, Rengan Ramesh PII: S0022-328X(16)30033-X DOI: 10.1016/j.jorganchem.2016.01.033 Reference: JOM 19384 To appear in: Journal of Organometallic Chemistry Received Date: 24 November 2015 Revised Date: 21 January 2016 Accepted Date: 28 January 2016 Please cite this article as: N. Mohan, S. Muthumari, R. Ramesh, Synthesis, structure and anticancer 6 activity of (η -benzene) ruthenium(II) complexes containing aroylhydrazone ligands, Journal of Organometallic Chemistry (2016), doi: 10.1016/j.jorganchem.2016.01.033. This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT New (η6-benzene) ruthenium(II) complexes containing aroylhydrazone ligands were synthesized and characterized. The single crystal X- ray analysis of the complex 4 reveals a typical three leg piano stool structure. Complexes are more potent against MCF-7 cells than cisplatin. Fluorescence staining methods confirm apoptosis induced AC C EP TE D M AN U SC RI PT cell death. ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Synthesis, structure and anticancer activity of (η6-benzene) ruthenium(II) complexes containing aroylhydrazone ligands Nanjan Mohan, Subramanian Muthumari and Rengan Ramesh* School of Chemistry, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, Tamil Nadu, India RI PT ABSTRACT New benzene ruthenium(II) aroylhydrazone complexes of general molecular formula [Ru(η6C6H6)Cl(L)] (where L = aroylhydrazone ligand) have been synthesized from the reaction of the precursor [Ru(η6- C6H6)(µ-Cl)Cl]2 and aroylhydrazone ligands. The composition of the SC complexes has been accomplished by elemental analysis and spectral methods (FT-IR, UVVis, 1HNMR). The molecular structure of complex 4 has been established by single-crystal X-ray structure analysis shows that the aroylhydrazone ligands are coordinated to ruthenium M AN U as a bidentate N, O donor and a typical piano stool geometry was observed around ruthenium(II) metal center. All the complexes exhibit two consecutive irreversible oxidations in the potential range +0.74 to +1.17 V (RuII/RuIII;RuIII/RuIV) Vs calomel electrode. Further, in vitro anticancer activity of complexes 1-4 on human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa) and non-cancerous NIH-3T3 cell line exhibit It is also evident from IC50 values that the TE D moderate to excellent cytotoxic activity. complexes are more potent against MCF-7 cells than cisplatin. The superior activity of the complex 4 assumes that presence of electron donating methoxy substituent which makes the ring more reactive. Further, the morphological changes during cell death were investigated EP by Acridine Orange-Ethidium Bromide (AO–EB) and DAPI staining techniques, which AC C confirm the complex 4 induces cell death only through apoptosis. Keywords: Aroylhydrazone, Benzene ruthenium(II) complex; Molecular structure; Redox behaviour; Cytotoxicity; Apoptosis * Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 431 2407053; fax: +91 431 2407045. E-mail address: ramesh_bdu@yahoo.com (R. Ramesh). 1|Page ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 1. Introduction The pioneering work on the anticancer properties of cisplatin by Rosenberg in 1965 [1] has successfully resulted in using it as an effective drug against cancer for the past few decades. However, this drug shows resistance, high toxicity and other side effects [2, 3]. For RI PT this reason ruthenium based drugs have been thought of as an attractive alternative due to their fewer side effects, higher activity [4] and their similarity to iron in binding properties [5]. In addition, most of the ruthenium complexes interact with DNA in vitro and display binding modes and better activity when compared to those of platinum based drugs. In SC particular two ruthenium(III)-based drugs, KP1019 and NAMIA have already entered into clinical trials [6-8], but differ considerably from cisplatin in their in vivo behaviour. Half-sandwich arene ruthenium(II) compounds have been the subject of intense research M AN U in recent years because of their lipophilic and hydrophilic properties [9,10]. In addition, all these complexes adopt a typical three-legged piano stool conformation, where the arene ligand forms the seat and the chelating ligand along with auxiliary ligand are the legs of the piano stool. It is to be considered that arene Ru(II) complexes often possess good aqueous solubility along with satisfactory lipophilicity needed to cross the cell membrane. Moreover, TE D the coordinated arene stabilizes ruthenium in the +2 oxidation state and different types of substituent can be modified to tune the properties of the arene-ruthenium complexes. The ligand exchange kinetics of Pt(II) and Ru(II) complexes are very similar in aqueous solution, pivotal for anticancer activity [11]. The mechanism of cytotoxic involves the hydrolysis of EP the Ru-X bond giving rise to the active targeting species [12]. However, arene ruthenium complexes of the type [Ru(η6-arene)(PTA)Cl2] (PTA = 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane) (η6-arene)RuCl2(imidazole) [14], (η6-arene)RuCl2(DMSO) [Ru(η6- [15], AC C [13], arene)(YZ)Cl][PF6] [16] (YZ = chelating diamine) as well as dinuclear compounds [17], and the tri [18] and tetranuclear clusters [19] such as [H3Ru3(η6–C6H6)(η6–C6Me6)2O]+ and [H4Ru4(η6–C6H6)4]2+ have been studied in vitro and in some cases in vivo for their antitumor activity. Recent studies have shown that metal complexes bind to the primary target DNA as well as strongly interact with proteins [9, 13b, 20 &21]. Therefore, advancement of the anticancer agents targeting both DNA and proteins are most sought after [13b, 20-22]. Aroylhydrazones are versatile ligands exhibiting amide-imidol tautomerism (Scheme 1) and display interesting coordination modes in metal complexes. Depending on the acidity, the reaction conditions and the nature of the metal ion, these ligands coordinate to the metal ion via the azomethine nitrogen either in the neutral amide form or in the monobasic 2|Page ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT imidolate form, as bidentate N, O donor ligands forming five-membered chelate rings with the metal [23]. Various studies have also shown that the azomethine group having a lone pair of electrons in either a p or sp2 hybridized orbital on trigonally hybridized nitrogen has considerable biological importance [24]. Though several hydrazone complexes of Cu(II), Ni(II), Pd(II), Pt(II), Co(II), V(V) and Ru(II) [25-31] have been studied, the biological O R1 N R OH N R1 N R R2 SC R2 N H Tautomerization RI PT applications of arene ruthenium(II) complexes with hydrazone ligands are not well explored. M AN U Scheme 1. Amide and imidol forms of hydrazone. With the objective of promoting the applications of ruthenium(II) hydrazone complexes, we report here the synthesis and spectral characterization of a series of benzene ruthenium(II) complexes containing aroylhydrazone ligands. The molecular structure of one of the complexes was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The redox property of the complexes was examined by cyclic voltammetry. In vitro anticancer activity of these TE D complexes against human cancer cell lines and the effect of the substituents present on the ligand on the above said properties were described. Further, the mechanism of cancer cell death was also investigated by AO–EB and DAPI staining techniques. EP 2. Results and discussion AC C The aroylhydrazone ligand derivatives were conveniently prepared in an excellent yield by the condensation of acetophenone with substituted benzhydrazides in an equimolar ratio. These ligands were allowed to react with the ruthenium(II) precursor, [Ru(η6- C6H6)(µCl)Cl]2 in a 2:1 molar ratio in the presence of triethylamine as the base and the new complexes of the general formula, [Ru(η6-C6H6)Cl(L)] (Scheme 2) were obtained in reasonable yields. The addition of triethylamine to the reaction mixture was used to remove a proton from the imidol oxygen and to facilitate the coordination of the imidolate oxygen to the ruthenium(II) ion. The synthesised benzene ruthenium(II) complexes are soluble in solvent such as benzene, toluene, chloroform, dichloromethane, acetonitrile, dimethyl 3|Page ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT formamide, dimethyl sulphoxide as well as in water. The analytical data of all the benzene ruthenium(II) complexes are in good agreement with the molecular structures proposed. Cl Cl Ru H3C Ru Ru N HN Benzene, Et3N O Cl Cl R Reflux, 5h H3C N O N RI PT Cl SC R R = -H (L1), -Cl (L2), Br (L3), -OCH3 (L4) 2.1. Spectral characterization M AN U Scheme 2. Synthesis of benzene ruthenium(II) aroylhydrazone complexes. The FT-IR spectra of the ligands showed a medium to strong band in the region 31803196 cm-1 which is characteristic of the ν(N-H) functional groups respectively. The free ligand TE D also display ν(C=N) 1539-1576 cm-1 and ν(C=O) absorptions in the region 1610-1653 cm-1. The bands due to N-H and C=O stretching vibrations are also not observed in the complexes indicating that the ligand undergo tautomerisation and subsequent coordination of the imidolate oxygen to the ruthenium(II) ion. This is further supported by the appearance of EP new bands in the region 1524-1530 cm-1 which may be attributed to the C=N-N=C fragments [32] and disappearance of ν(C=O)and appearance of ν(N=C-O) and ν(C-O) in the region 1474-1486 AC C and 1369-1396 cm-1 respectively [33], in all the metal (II) complexes therefore ascertain the coordination mode of the aroylhydrazone ligand to ruthenium(II) ion via the azomethine nitrogen and the imidolate oxygen. (Fig. S1-S4, Supporting information) The electronic spectra of all the benzene ruthenium(II) complexes were recorded in dry chloroform solution in the range 200-800 nm. All the complexes display three intense absorptions in the region 400-230 nm. The absorption spectra of the benzene ruthenium(II) aroylhydrazone complexes exhibited very intense band around 266-288 nm and 241-244 nm are assigned to ligand-centered (LC) π-π* and n-π* transitions respectively. The lowest energy absorption bands in the electronic spectra of the complexes in the visible region 315326 nm are ascribed to metal to ligand charge transfer MLCT transitions. Based on the 4|Page ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT pattern of the electronic spectra of all the complexes an octahedral environment around the ruthenium(II) ion has been proposed similar to that of the other octahedral ruthenium(II) complexes. RI PT 2.2. 1H NMR spectra The bonding arrangement is further supported by 1H NMR spectra (Table 1). The 1H NMR spectra of all the complexes were recorded in CDCl3. The multiplets observed in the region around δ 6.8-8.1 ppm in all the complexes have been assigned to the aromatic protons SC of the aroylhydrazone ligand. The singlet in the region δ 2.8 ppm is due to methyl protons nearer to coordinated azomethine group. In addition, peaks around δ 8.9-9.2 ppm for –NH disappeared in all the complexes due to enolisation followed by deprotonation on imidole M AN U oxygen indicating that the ruthenium is coordinated through imidolate oxygen. The singlet around δ 3.8 ppm is due to methoxy protons in the complex 4 and singlet in the region δ 5.0 ppm corresponding to the protons of the arene ligand. (Fig. S5-S8, Supporting information) Table 1 H NMR data of benzene ruthenium(II) aroylhydrazone complexes H NMR data δ/ppm Ar-H C6H6 -CH3 -OCH3 1 7.2–8.1 5.0 2.8 -- 2 7.2–8.0 5.0 2.8 -- 3 7.2–8.0 5.0 2.8 -- 4 6.8–8.1 5.0 2.8 3.8 AC C complexes EP 1 TE D 1 2.3. X-ray structure determination The molecular structure of one of the benzene ruthenium(II) complexes [Ru(η6C6H6)Cl(L4)] 4 has been confirmed by a single – crystal X-ray diffraction analysis in order to confirm the coordination mode of the ligand and geometry of the complex. The single crystals of the complex 4 were obtained from slow evaporation of dichloromethanepetroleum ether solution at room temperature. The ORTEP view of complex 4 is shown in Fig. 1. The summary of the data collection and refinement parameters are given in (Table 2) 5|Page ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT and selected bond lengths and angles are given in (Table 3). The complex 4 crystallize in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/n. The benzene ligand is bonded to the ruthenium atom in η6 fashion with ruthenium centroid. The complex adopt a typical three-legged piano stool conformation with N, O and Cl atoms as the legs and evident by the nearly 90⁰bond angles for N(1)-Ru(1)-Cl(1) 84.64(6) and O(1)-Ru(1)-Cl(1) 85.81(7). The aroylhydrazone ligand RI PT bind to the metal center at N and O forming the five membered chelate ring with bite angle 76.64(8) O-Ru-N and bond length of Ru-N and Ru-O are 2.107(2) and 2.0420(18) respectively. The Ru-Cl bond length is found to be 2.3907(8). The ruthenium atom is π bonded to the benzene ring with an average Ru–C distance of 2.170(3) Å, whereas average SC distance of ruthenium to the chelating nitrogen and oxygen atoms is 2.074 Å. The average C–C bond length in the benzene ring is 1.391 Å with alternating short and long bonds. As all the four benzene ruthenium(II) complexes show similar spectral properties, the other three AC C EP TE D M AN U complexes are considered to have similar structure as that of complex 4. Fig. 1. ORTEP diagram of the complex [Ru(η6_C6H6)Cl(L4)] (4), showing 50% probability level. 6|Page ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Table 2 Crystal data and structure refinement for complex 4 Compound 4 C22 H21Cl N2 O2Ru Formula weight 481.93 Temperature 296(2) K Wavelength 0.71073 A Crystal system, space group Monoclinic, P21/n Unit cell dimensions a = 10.0868(7) Å alpha = 90 deg. b = 19.0613(14) Å beta = 98.585(3) deg. c = 10.4898(7) Å gamma = 90 deg. Volume 1994.2(2) Å3 Z, Calculated density 4, 1.605 Mg/m3 Absorption coefficient 0.940 mm-1 F(000) 976 Crystal size 0.35 x 0.30 x 0.30 mm Theta range for data collection 2.24 to 28.55 deg. Limiting indices -13 ≤ h ≤ 10, -25 ≤ k ≤ 25, -13 ≤ l ≤ 12 TE D M AN U SC RI PT Formula 16583 / 4908 [R(int) = 0.0217] Completeness to theta = 28.55 96.7 % Absorption correction Semi-empirical from equivalents EP Reflections collected / unique 0.7656 and 0.7343 Refinement method Full-matrix least-squares on F2 AC C Max. and min. transmission Data / restraints / parameters 4908 / 0 / 255 Goodness-of-fit on F2 1.097 Final R indices [I>2sigma(I)] R1 = 0.0306, wR2 = 0.0832 R indices (all data) R1 = 0.0411, wR2 = 0.0968 Largest diff. peak and hole 0.480 and -0.600 e.Å-3 7|Page ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Table 3 Selected bond lengths (Å) and angles (⁰) for complex 4 Bond lengths (Å) N(1)-N(2) 1.402(3) N(2)-N(1)-Ru(1) 113.69(14) N(1)-Ru(1) 2.107(2) C(7)-N(2)-N(1) 111.10(2) O(1)-Ru(1) 2.042(18) C(7)-O(1)-Ru(1) 113.12(16) Cl(1)-Ru(1) 2.390(8) O(1)-Ru(1)-N(1) 76.64(8) C(7)-O(1) 1.288(3) O(1)-Ru(1)-Cl(1) 85.81(7) C(7)-N(2) 1.309(3) N(1)-Ru(1)-Cl(1) 84.64(6) SC ESD in parenthesis. RI PT Bond angles (⁰) M AN U 2.4. Electrochemical property Electrochemical study was carried out for all the free ligands and the benzene ruthenium(II) aroylhydrazone complexes in degassed acetonitrile at room temperature in the potential range of 0 to +1.5. The supporting electrolyte used was 0.05 M tetrabutylammonium perchlorate (TBAP) and the concentration of the complex was 10-3M. TE D The resulting data are summarised in (Table4). All the complexes exhibit two consecutive one electron irreversible oxidations in the potential range of 0.74 to +1.17 V at the scan rate of 100 mV s-1with reference to saturated calomel electrode (Fig. S9-S12, Supporting information). The comparison of its current height with that of the standard EP ferrocene/ferrocenium couple under identical conditions reveals the one electron transfer process. The first oxidative response with Epa in the range +0.74 to +0.79 V is assigned to RuII → RuIII oxidation whereas the second one in the range +1.12 to +1.17 V is assigned to AC C RuIII → RuIV oxidation. These potentials are comparable with RuII→ RuIII and RuIII → RuIV oxidation potential of other mononuclear ruthenium complexes [34, 35]. In addition, irreversibility observed for the oxidative responses may be due to the fast dissociation of chloride ligand from ruthenium(II) complexes [36]. It is worth noting that correlation between the Epa values and IC50 values has been observed for arene ruthenium compounds with anticancer properties [37]. The values between +0.74 and +0.79 V, the RuII/RuIII redox potentials for complex 1–4 are lower than those for the more cytotoxic complexes [(η6arene)RuCl2(NC5H4OOCC5H4FeC5H5)], the Epa values ranging from +0.91 to +1.00 V [38], but significantly higher than the RuII/RuIII redox potentials for the complex [(η6-arene)Ru(SC5H4NH)3]2+, the Epa values ranging from +0.58 and +0.67 V [37]. 8|Page ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Table 4 Electrochemical data of benzene ruthenium(II) aroylhydrazone complexes 1 2 3 4 RuIII / RuIIRuIV / RuIII Epa (V) +0.76 +0.78 +0.79 +0.74 Epa (V) +1.14 +1.16 +1.17 +1.12 RI PT Complexes Solvent = Acetonitrile; [Complex] = 1x10-3M; Supporting electrolyte [Bu4N] (ClO4) (0.05 M); Scan rate: 100mVs-1; All potentials referenced to SCE; Epa = anodic peak potential. SC 2.5. In vitro cytotoxic activity M AN U The potential of the complexes to inhibit cancer cell growth was evaluated using the MTT assay. The in vitro cytotoxicity of the metallic precursors, ligand and benzene ruthenium(II) complexes 1-4, was evaluated against human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells, human cervix carcinoma (HeLa) cells and non-cancerous NIH-3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblasts cell lines using MTT assay after 24 hours of inhibition, which measures mitochondrial dehydrogenase activity as an indication of cell viability. For comparison, the cytotoxicity of known anti- TE D cancer drug cisplatin has also assessed against all the above cell lines. The results were analysed by means of cell inhibition of cancer cell growth at the 50% level expressed as IC50 values and the values of the four benzene ruthenium(II) complexes 1-4 are listed in (Table 5). It is to be noted that the precursor and the ligand did not show any inhibition of the cell EP growth even up to 100 µM and clearly indicates chelation of the ligand with metal ion is responsible for the observed cytotoxicity properties of the complexes. All the complexes AC C have moderate to excellent cytotoxic activity against MCF-7, HeLa and NIH-3T3 cell line used. It is found that all the complexes are more potent against MCF-7 cells as compared to other cell lines. Among them, complex 4 exhibit excellent IC50 against MCF cell lines. The superior activity of the complex 4 assumes that presence of electron donating methoxy substituent which makes the ring more reactive and thereby increases of the lipophilic character of the metal complex which favours its permeation through the lipid layer of the cell membrane [39]. Hence, the cytotoxicity increases in the order H ˂ Br ˂ Cl ˂ OCH3. It should be noted that the observed IC50 values of the reported complexes are considerably better against MCF-7 cell line than those characteristic of cisplatin. Further, the IC50 values of the complexes are much better than those previously reported arene ruthenium(II) 9|Page ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT complexes [40]. The excellent cytotoxic activity observed for 4 against the tested cell lines may be due to better cellular uptake inside the cells which is evident by fluorescence images. Table 5 a MCF-7 IC50 values (µM) HeLa NIH-3T3 15.8 ± 0.4 12.8 ± 0.7 13.5 ± 0.3 10.9 ± 0.3 15.2 ± 0.5 48.7 ± 0.9 38.4 ± 0.9 41.5 ± 0.6 34.3 ± 1.3 11.7 ± 0.7 192.4 ± 2.1 178.7 ± 1.0 152.6 ± 1.9 182.8 ± 0.9 240.9 ± 1.9 Complexes a SC 1 2 3 4 Cisplatin RI PT The cytotoxic activity of benzene ruthenium(II) aroylhydrazone complexes IC50 = concentration of the drug required to inhibit growth of 50% of the cancer cells (µM). M AN U 2.6. Morphological changes in AO/EB and DAPI fluorescence study Cell apoptosis is an important phenomenon responsible for destroying undesirable cells during the development and homeostasis of cellular organisms [41]. As such, the ability to kill tumor cells through the induction of apoptosis has been used as a marker for the identification of antitumor drugs [42]. Cells undergoing apoptosis are characterized by TE D morphological and biochemical changes including cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation [43]. Apoptotic cells reveal increased plasma membrane permeability to certain fluorescent dyes, e.g., AO/EB, Hoechst, AO/PI, DAPI etc. In this To investigate the EP study, we have carried out AO/EB and DAPI staining methods. morphological changes, the most active compound 4 in MCF-7 cells were further studied using Acridine Orange/Ethidium Bromide (AO/EB) staining technique to perceive whether AC C the inhibition is due to apoptotic induction or nonspecific necrosis and the resulting images of the control and treated MCF-7cells are depicted in Fig. 2 and 3. Acridine Orange permeates the intact cell membrane and stains the nuclei green, whereas Ethidium Bromide is excluded from the cells having intact plasma membrane and stains the DNA of dead cells, showing orange fluorescence. Furthermore, in DAPI staining the control cells shows clear intensity but the treated cells with the complex shows strong fluorescence intensity. The cells treated with the complex in the dark did not show any significant nuclear morphological change. The microscopic image Fig. 2 and 3 gives clear evidence of the formation of more apoptotic bodies, characterized by the fragmentation of nuclei with condensed chromatin, upon the treatment of MCF-7 with compound 4. 10 | P a g e SC RI PT ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT EP TE D M AN U Fig.2. Morphological changes in human breast cancer MCF-7cell treated with compound 4 for 24 h. Fig.3. Morphological changes in human breast cancer MCF-7 cell treated with compound 4 for 24 h. AC C 3. Conclusions A series of benzene ruthenium(II) aroylhydrazone complexes has been synthesised and characterized by analytical and spectroscopic methods. The molecular structure of 4 has been studied by single-crystal X-ray structure analysis indicates that the aroylhydrazone ligands are coordinated to ruthenium as a bidentate N, O donor and a typical piano stool structure was observed around ruthenium(II) metal center. All the complexes (1-4) show moderate to excellent cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 and HeLa cell line used. Particularly the complexes are more active against MCF-7 cells as compared to other cell lines. Among all the complexes, 4 is found to have higher cytotoxicity (10.9 µM against MCF-7 cancer cell 11 | P a g e ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT lines). The microscopic images give clear evidence of the formation of more apoptotic bodies, characterized by the fragmentation of nuclei with condensed chromatin, upon the treatment of MCF-7 with compound 4. RI PT 4. Experimental 4.1. Reagents and materials RuCl3.3H2O is commercially available and was used as supplied from Loba chemie Pvt. received. SC Ltd. Ketones and benzhydrazide derivatives were purchased from Aldrich and were used as The supporting electrolyte, tetrabutylammonium perchlorate (TBAP) was purchased from Aldrich and dried in vacuum prior to use. All other chemicals were obtained M AN U from commercial sources and were used as received. The Solvents were distilled following the standard procedures [44] and degassed before use. The precursor [Ru(η6-C6H6)(µ-Cl)Cl]2 complex was prepared by reported literature method [45]. The human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7), human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa) and non-cancerous NIH-3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblasts cell line were obtained from the TE D National Center for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune, India. 4.2. Physical measurements EP FT-IR spectra were recorded in KBr pellets with JASCO 400 plus spectrometer. The microanalysis of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulphur were recorded by an analytical AC C function testing Vario EL III CHNS elemental analyser at the Sophisticated Test and Instrumentation Centre (STIC), Cochin University, Kochi. Electronic spectra in chloroform solution were recorded with a CARY 300 Bio UV- visible Varian spectrometer. 1 H NMR spectra were recorded on a Bruker 400 MHz instruments using tetramethylsilane (TMS) as an internal reference. Electrochemical measurements were made using a CH Instruments, Inc. Model 600E SN: I1140 Electrochemical Analyser using a glassy carbon working electrode, Pt wire as counter electrode and all the potentials were reference to saturated calomel electrode. Melting points were recorded with a Boetius micro-heating table and are corrected. 12 | P a g e ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 4.3. Preparation of aroylhydrazone ligand A mixture of 4-substituded benzhydrazide (0.01 mmol) and acetophenone (0.01 mmol) in methanol (30 mL) was refluxed for 30 min. The separated solid was filtered and dried in air. RI PT Yield: 87-91%. 4.4. Synthesis of benzene ruthenium(II) aroylhydrazone complexes The complexes were prepared using a general procedure in which [Ru(η6-C6H6)(µ-Cl)Cl]2 SC (25mg, 0.04 mmol) with aroylhydrazone ligand (19.4-25.8 mg, 0.08 mmol) in the presence of Et3N (0.5 mL) in benzene 30 mL. The resulting solution was refluxed for 5h and the progress of the reaction was monitored by TLC. At the end of the reaction the solution was M AN U concentrated to about 3 mL and petroleum ether was added whereby solid separated out. The obtained solid was recrystallized from CH2Cl2-petroleum ether at room temperature. Yield: 70-81%. 4.4.1. [Ru(η6-C6H6)(Cl)(L1)] Colour: Brown; Yield: 81%; M.p.: 170 ⁰C (with decomposition); Anal. Calc. for C21H19 1 TE D ClN2ORu: C, 55.81; H, 4.23; N, 6.19%. Found: C,55.71; H, 4.17; N, 6.25%. IR (KBr, cm):1530 ν(C=N-N=C), 1486 ν (N=C-O), 1376 ν(C-O). UV–Vis (CH3CN, λmax/nm; ε/dm3 mol-1 cm-1): 315(7261), 266(10,825), 243(12,234). 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) (δ ppm): 7.2–8.1 (m, EP 10H, aromatic), 5.0(s, 6H), 2.8 (s, 3H, CH3). AC C 4.4.2. [Ru(η6-C6H6)(Cl)(L2)] Colour: Brown; Yield: 76%; M.p.: 165 ⁰C (with decomposition); Anal. Calc. for C21H18 Cl2N2ORu: C, 51.86; H, 3.73; N, 5.75%. Found: C,51.81; H, 3.77; N, 5.70%. IR (KBr, cm1 ):1524 ν(C=N-N=C), 1482 ν (N=C-O), 1376 ν(C-O). UV–Vis (CH3CN, λmax/nm; ε/dm3 mol-1 cm-1): 320(2494), 267(4293), 242(4817). 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) (δ ppm): 7.2–8.0 (m, 9H, aromatic), 5.0(s, 6H), 2.8 (s, 3H, CH3). 4.4.3. [Ru(η6-C6H6)(Cl)(L3)] Colour: Brown; Yield: 70%; M.p.: 162 ⁰C (with decomposition); Anal.Calc. for C21H18 ClN2BrORu: C, 47.51; H, 3.41; N, 5.27%. Found: C,47.51; H, 3.47; N, 5.25%. IR (KBr, cm- 13 | P a g e ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT 1 ):1529 ν(C=N-N=C), 1477 ν (N=C-O), 1369 ν(C-O). UV–Vis (CH3CN, λmax/nm; ε/dm3 mol-1 cm-1): 320(4913), 268(830), 244(8673). 1 H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) (δ ppm): 7.2–8.0 (m, 9H, aromatic), 5.0(s, 6H), 2.8 (s, 3H, CH3). 4.4.4. [Ru(η6-C6H6)(Cl)(L4)] RI PT Colour: Brown; Yield: 72%; M.p.: 159 ⁰C (with decomposition); Anal. Calc. for C22H21 ClN2O2Ru: C, 54.82; H, 4.39; N, 5.81%. Found: C,54.88; H, 4.36; N, 5.85%. IR (KBr, cm1 ):1525 ν(C=N-N=C), 1474 ν (N=C-O), 1396 ν(C-O). UV–Vis (CH3CN, λmax/nm; ε/dm3 mol-1 cm-1): 326(4061), 288(5749), 241(6109). 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) (δ ppm): 6.8–8.1 (m, 9H, SC aromatic), 5.0(s, 6H), 2.8 (s, 3H, CH3), 3.8 (s, 3H, OCH3). M AN U 4.5. X-ray crystallography Single crystal of [Ru(η6-C6H6)Cl(L4)] (4) were grown by slow evaporation of Dichloromethane-Petroleum ether solution at room temperature. A single crystal of suitable size was covered with Paratone oil, mounted on the top of a glass fiber, and transferred to a TE D Bruker AXS Kappa APEX II single crystal X-ray diffractometer using monochromated MoKα radiation (λ=0.71073). Data were collected at 293K. The structure was solved with direct method using SIR-97 [46] and was refined by full matrix least-squares method on F2 with SHELXL-97[47]. Non-hydrogen atoms were refined with anisotropy thermal riding model. EP parameters. All hydrogen atoms were geometrically fixed and collected to refine using a Frame integration and data reduction were performed using the Bruker AC C SAINT-Plus (Version 7.06a) software. The multiscan absorption corrections were applied to the data using SADABS software. CCDC reference number is 1064013. 4.6. In vitro cytotoxic activity. maintenance of cell lines The assays were carried out in monolayer cells were detached with trypsinethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) to make single cell suspensions and viable cells were counted using a hemocytometer and diluted with medium containing 5% FBS to give final density of 1x105 cells/ml. One hundred microliters per well of cell/well and incubated to allow for cell attachment at 37 ⁰C, 5% CO2, 95% air and 100% relative humidity. After 24 14 | P a g e ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT hours the cells were treated with serial concentrations of the test samples. They were initially dissolved in neat DMSO to prepare the stock (200 µM) and stored frozen prior to use. At the time of drug addition, the frozen concentrate was thawed and an aliquot was diluted to twice the desired final maximum test concentration with serum free medium. Additional three, 10 fold serial dilutions were made to provide a total of four drug concentrations. Aliquots of RI PT 100 µL of these different drug dilutions were added to the appropriate wells already containing 100 µL of medium, resulted the required final drug concentrations. Following drug additions the plates were incubated for an additional 24 h at 37 ⁰C, 5% CO2, 95% air and 100% relative humidity. The medium containing no samples served as a control and SC triplicate was maintained for all concentrations. M AN U 4.7. Evaluation by MTT assays MTT is a yellow water soluble tetrazolium salt. A mitochondrial enzyme in living cells, succinate-dehydrogenase, cleaves the tetrazolium ring, converting the MTT to an insoluble purple colour formazan. Therefore, the amount of formazan produced is directly proportional to the number of viable cells after 24 h of plating benzene ruthenium(II) complexes 1-4 were TE D added at various concentration (1 to 100 µM for 24 h, with a final volume in the well of 300 µL) for 24 h to study the dose dependent cytotoxic effect. To each well, 15 µL of MTT (5 mg/mL) in phosphate buffered saline was added to each well and incubated at 37 ⁰C for 4 h. The medium with MTT was then flicked off and the formed formazan crystals were EP solubilized in 100 µL of DMSO and then the absorbance at 570 nm was using micro plate reader. Nonlinear regression graph was plotted with the percentage of cell inhibition versus From this, the IC50 value was calculated by using the following AC C log10 concentration. formula. % cell inhibition= 1-Abs (sample)/Abs (control) x100. 4.8. Fluorescent dual staining experiment Acridine Orange and Ethidium Bromide (AO and EB) staining was performed as follows: the cell suspension of each sample containing 5 x 105 cells, was treated with 25 µL of AO and EB solution (1 part of 100 µg mL-1 AO and 1 part of µg mL-1 EB in PBS) and examined in a laser scanning confocal microscope LSM 710 (Carl Zeiss, Germany) using an UV filter (450–490 nm). Three hundred cells per sample were counted in triplicate for each dose point. 15 | P a g e ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT The cells were scored as viable, apoptotic or necrotic as judged by the staining, nuclear morphology and membrane integrity. Morphological changes were also observed and photographed. RI PT 4.9. DAPI staining method DAPI (4ˈ, 6ˈ-diamidino−2−phenylindole) staining was done using the following procedure: 5 × 105 cells were treated with the complex 4 (100 µg mL-1) for 24 h in a 6-well culture plate and were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde followed by permeabilization with SC 0.1% Triton X-100. Cells were then stained with 50 µg mL-1 DAPI for 30 min at room temperature. The cells undergoing apoptosis, represented by the morphological changes of confocal microscope LSM 710 (Zeiss). Acknowledgments M AN U apoptotic nuclei, were observed and imaged from ten eye views at under a laser scanning One of the authors (N. 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A. 64 (2008)112-122. 19 | P a g e ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT  New (η6-benzene) ruthenium(II) aroylhydrazone complexes have been synthesized  X- ray analysis of the complex reveals a typical three leg piano stool structure  Complexes are more potent against MCF-7 cells than cisplatin AC C EP TE D M AN U SC RI PT  Fluorescence staining methods confirm apoptosis induced cell death