Ruthenium(II) arene compounds as versatile anticancer agents

Abstract

Ruthenium-based compounds are an attractive alternative to clinically used platinum drugs due to several features including a wide range of accessible oxidation states, varied synthetic chemistry and typically lower general toxicities. One series of ruthenium(ii)-arene-pta, RAPTA (pta = 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphatricyclo[3.3.1.1] decane) compounds has been found to show particularly high selectivity towards cancer cells in both in vitro and in vivo studies. © Schweizerische Chemische Gesellschaft.