Facile design and spectroscopic characterization of novel bio-inspired Quercetin-conjugated Tetrakis (dimethylsulfoxide)dichlororuthenium(II) complex for enhanced anticancer properties

Abstract A facile reflux approach was employed in the design of novel complexes using ruthenium(II) and quercetin for enhanced anticancer applications. The designed metal-based flavonoid complex was thoroughly characterized by employing powder XRD, 1 H, 13 C NMR, elemental analysis (C, H, N, S, O), FT-IR, XPS, and UV-Vis spectroscopy techniques. The cell toxicity and cell proliferation properties of the Quercetin-Ru(II) complex were investigated on the non-small cell lung cancer cell lines (A549) along with the lung normal cells (WI-38) and human dermal fibroblast (HDFa) cells. Significant cytotoxicity was observed with the newly designed complex on A549 cells at minimum concentrations of (10-30 µM). Interestingly, no remarkable cytotoxicity was observed in the WI-38 and HDFa cells. The same was confirmed by assessing cellular damage and nuclear damage via Atomic force microscopy (Bio-AFM) and Hoechst staining assay. Moreover, the results of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation are also interesting to confirm the abilities of designed novel Quercetin-Ru(II) complex for anticancer applications.