Half-sandwich (Cp*)RhCl2 core complexes containing sulfur donor thiosemicarbazones: Synthesis, cytotoxic activity and human serum albumin binding studies

Abstract A series of organometallic rhodium complexes with curcuminoid ligands ( 1−9 ) have been synthesized and characterized by NMR, IR, elemental analysis, and HR-ESI-mass spectrometry. The molecular structure of complex 9 has been characterized by X-ray crystallography. The in vitro activities of all the compounds have been evaluated against the HeLa, HepG2, CNE-2, SGC-7901, KB human cancer cell lines and HEK-293 T human healthy cell lines. The rhodium complex 6 exhibits excellent cytotoxic effect and promising selectivity towards cancer cell lines. Furthermore, the binding efficacy of complex 6 with HSA has been assessed using fluorescence spectroscopic tools.