Novel ruthenium(ii) polypyridyl complexes as G-quadruplex stabilisers and telomerase inhibitors

Two novel ruthenium polypyridyl complexes, Ru[(bpy)2(pedppz)](2+) (1) and Ru[(bpy)2(pemitatp)](2+) (2) (bpy = 2'2-bipyridine, pdeppz = 10-(2-(piperidin-1-yl)ethoxy)dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine, pemitatp = 5-methoxy-1-(2-(piperidin-1-yl)ethyl)-isatino[1,2-b]-1,4,8,9-tetraazatriphenylene), bearing large planar π-delocalized aromatic systems with flexible chains have been synthesised and characterised. As expected, these complexes show inhibition towards telomerase by inducing and stabilising the G-quadruplex structure.