In vitro cytotoxic evaluation of novel dichlorodiorgano[N-(2-pyridylmethylene)arylamine]tin(IV) derivatives in human tumor cell lines.

The present report overviews the studies on diorganotin(IV) complexes of N-(2-pyridylmethylene)arylamine, R(2)SnCl(2).L (R = Me (1), Et (2), Bu (3) or Ph (4)) as cytotoxic agents. This family of complexes was designed to include highly electron-donating N;Nchelating ligand to afford octahedral R(2)SnCl(2).L complexes of relatively high hydrolytic stability, with the aim to retain ligand binding throughout the biological activity for achieving controlled processes and allowing mechanistic evaluation. It is observed that the high cytotoxic activity is dependent on the Sn-R groups and Sn-N bond lengths, and which is related to the cytotoxic potential. Complex (2) was found to exhibit stronger cytotoxic activity in vitro particularly for A498 (renal cancer), IGROV (ovarian cancer), MCF-7 (breast cancer), and WIDR (colon cancer) of human tumour cell lines and the results are far superior to standard reference drugs e.g., doxorubicin, cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil, methotrexate, etoposide including paclitaxel. The important insights gained with the diorganotin(IV) compounds in regards to their cytotoxic activity are discussed.