Six novel dinuclear Ru(II)-arene complexes [Ru₂(η⁶-p-cymene)₂(1,3-bib)₂Cl₂]×₂·Solvent (X = Cl⁻ (1), I⁻ (2), NO₃⁻ (3), BF₄⁻ (4), PF₆⁻ (5), CF₃SO₃⁻ (6); 1,3-bib = 1,3-di(1H-imidazol-1-yl) benzene) were synthesized and fully characterized by FT-IR, ¹H NMR, ESI-MS, Elemental Analysis (EA) and Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD). Single crystal X-ray diffractions studies showed that 3 and 4 have rigid bowl-like structures, where one counter-anion (NO₃⁻ for 3 and BF₄⁻ for 4) was trapped inside the cavity to balance the charge, respectively. Even complexes 1–6 showed only moderate or little anti-proliferative activity toward cancer cells, strong interactions with DNA molecules through intercalation, however, were confirmed by UV-Vis, CD and fluorescence spectroscopy. Apoptosis and cell cycle arrest studies for complex 2 with cancer A549 cells indicated concentration-dependent late apoptosis and the G1/G0 phase arrest. Interactions with the tripeptide glutathione (γ-L-Glu-L-Cys-Gly, GSH) might explain the relatively low antiproliferative potency of these complexes. This class of rigid dinuclear cations hold potential as DNA-targeting anticancer agents if their uptake and delivery could be under controlled.

六米新颖的双核钌（II）配合物-arene的[Ru ₂（η ⁶ - p -cymene）₂（1,3-围兜）₂氯₂ ]× ₂ ·溶剂（X =氯^- （1），I ^- （2），NO ₃ ^- （3），BF ₄ ^- （4），PF ₆ ^- （5），CF ₃ SO ₃ ^- （6）; 1,3-围兜 合成了1,3-二（1H-咪唑-1-基）苯并通过FT-IR，¹ H NMR，ESI-MS，元素分析（EA）和粉末X射线衍射（PXRD）进行了全面表征。单晶X射线衍射研究表明，3和4具有刚性盆状结构，其中，一个反阴离子（NO ₃ ^-为3和BF ₄ ^-为4）被困在腔内部分别以平衡电荷。甚至是复合物1 – 6展示了对癌细胞仅中等或极小的抗增殖活性，通过嵌入与DNA分子发生了强相互作用，但是，通过UV-Vis，CD和荧光光谱证实了这一点。对具有癌A549细胞的复合物2的凋亡和细胞周期阻滞研究表明，浓度依赖性的晚期细胞凋亡和G1 / G0期阻滞。与三肽谷胱甘肽（γ-L-Glu-L-Cys-Gly，GSH）的相互作用可能解释了这些复合物相对较低的抗增殖能力。如果可以控制其摄取和释放，这类刚性双核阳离子具有作为靶向DNA的抗癌剂的潜力。