Synthesis, characterization and cytotoxic activity of vanadocene dithiocarbamate complexes

Abstract This study describes synthesis of water-soluble vanadocene and 1,1′-dimethylvanadocene compounds bearing dithiocarbamate ligands. All prepared compounds were characterized by analytical and spectroscopic methods. The structure of [( η 5 -C 5 H 4 Me) 2 V{S 2 CN(CH 2 ) 4 O}]Cl was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The cytotoxicity of the synthesized compounds was investigated on human leukemia cells MOLT-4. The derivatives bearing cyclic dithiocarbamates show considerably stronger activity than reported for cisplatin.