Anticancer activity of a series of copper(II) complexes with tripodal ligands.

A series of copper(II) complexes with tripodal polypyridylamine ligands (derived from the parent ligand tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine, tmpa) has been synthesized. Crystallographic characterization was possible for all complexes obtained. The copper(II) chloride complexes were investigated for their in vitro anticancer potential using human tumor cell lines containing examples of cervical, colon, ovarian cancers and melanoma. Some compounds showed a similar activity compared to that of cisplatin, however no systematic behavior could be observed.