New morpholine or triphenylphosphine-liganded palladium(II) N-heterocyclic carbene complexes: Synthesis, characterization, crystal structure, and anticancer activity

Gök Y., Özkan G., Kuruçay A., Ateş B., Aktaş A., Değirmenci Ö., ...More

INORGANICA CHIMICA ACTA, vol.593, pp.1-15, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 593
  • Publication Date: 2026
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.ica.2026.123062
  • Journal Name: INORGANICA CHIMICA ACTA
  • Journal Indexes: Scopus, Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Chemical Abstracts Core, Chimica, Compendex
  • Page Numbers: pp.1-15
  • Inonu University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

A series of morpholine(Morp.)-liganded palladium(II) complexes (1a–c) and triphenylphosphine(PPh3)-liganded palladium(II) complexes (2a–c) bearing 4-fluorobenzyl substituted N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) were synthesized from NHC-Pd(II)-pyridine and Morp./PPh3 by ligand exchange method. The new complexes were fully characterized using 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 19F NMR, 31P NMR, FTIR spectroscopy and elemental analysis techniques. Furthermore, single crystal X-ray diffraction was used to elucidate the structures of complexes 1a and 2b. The anticancer activities of the new complexes against MCF-7 (Human Breast Cancer) cell line were investigated. With an IC50 value of 37.54 for complex 1a, it can be said that it is more cytotoxic to MCF-7 cells compared to other complexes, while the least cytotoxicity was observed in complex 1b.