Tetranuclear Ru 2 Cu 2 and Ru 2 Ni 2 complexes with nanomolar anticancer activity.

Complexes [{RuCp(PPh 3 ) 2 -μ-dmoPTA-1κ P :2κ 2 - N , N '-CuCl} 2 -μ-Cl-μ-OCH 3 ](CF 3 SO 3 ) 2 ·(CH 3 OH) 4 (1) and [{RuCp(PPh 3 ) 2 -μ-dmoPTA-1κ P :2κ 2 - N , N '-NiCl} 2 -μ-Cl-μ-OH](CF 3 SO 3 ) 2 (2) have been synthesized and characterized. Their antiproliferative activities were assessed against six human solid tumours showing nanomolar GI 50 values. The effects of 1 and 2 on SW1573 cells colony formation, HeLa cells action mechanism and their interaction with the pBR322 DNA plasmid were evaluated.