Syntheses, crystal structures, and anticancer activities of organotin carboxylates based on Alrestatin

Six organotin carboxylates based on the Alrestatin ligand (HL) were synthesized and characterized using elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, and TGA techniques. The molecular structure of complexes a-f was confirmed through single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Alrestatin demonstrated a tendency to adopt various coordination modes, leading to the formation of diverse molecular configurations in the organotin carboxylates. Hirshfeld surface analysis indicated that the six complexes exhibited similar contributions of different contacts to the Hirshfeld surfaces, with reciprocal H···H/C/O contacts dominating over 91 % of the total Hirshfeld surface. The in vitro anticancer activities of all the complexes were evaluated by a CCK8 assay against three human cancer cell lines (NCI-H460, HepG2, and MCF7). The anticancer activity of Alrestatin was effectively increased by introducing the butyl tin group, and exhibited excellent anticancer activity in vitro, significantly superior to cisplatin. The DNA binding of complex d was studied by UV–visible absorption spectrometry and fluorescence competitive assays.