Colchicine metallocenyl bioconjugates showing high antiproliferative activities against cancer cell lines.

A series of ferrocenyl and ruthenocenyl conjugates with colchicine bearing a 1,2,3-triazole moiety were synthesized and their anticancer properties were evaluated. We found that the most potent metallocenyl derivatives Rc4 and Rc5 are 6-7 times more cytotoxic toward HepG2 cells, while Fc4 and Fc5 are two times more cytotoxic toward HCT116 cells as colchicine. We also found that compounds Fc4, Fc5, Rc1 and Rc3-Rc5 are able to induce apoptosis, while compound Fc2 arrests mitosis.