Palladium(II) complexes bearing thiosemicarbazone and phosphines as inhibitors of DNA-Topoisomerase II enzyme: Synthesis, characterizations and biological studies

Four new palladium(II) complexes bearing thiosemicarbazone and phosphines as ligands were synthesized and fully characterized by IR, NMR, UV–Vis spectroscopies, elemental analysis and X-ray diffraction. The metal complexes were tested towards five cell lines, including, tumor and non-tumor cells. Cytotoxicity of the palladium(II) complexes overcame cisplatin. Compounds did not interacted with the DNA. However, palladium(II) complexes showed an inhibition of action of the Topoisomerase II enzyme at lower concentrations than did etoposide, a standard drug.