Complexes of platinum(II) or palladium(II) with 1,10-phenanthroline and amino acids

The amino acids complexes of [Pt(phen)(AA)]NO3·xH2O and [Pd(phen)(AA)]NO3·xH2O have been prepared by the interaction of palladium and platinum complexes, [Pt(phen)Cl2] and [Pd(phen)Cl2] with salts of amino acids in methanol and characterized by 1H NMR and IR spectroscopy which confirmed the formation of a very large variety of compounds with ligand in a simple way (bidentate). All of these new compounds have been isolated and tested for cytotoxicity on Molt-4, a human leukaemia cell line. The IC50 values of [Pt(phen)(Pro)]Cl·2H2O and [Pd(phen)(Asp)]Cl·1.5H2O are 9.8 and 7.31 μM, respectively, exhibiting a significant activity which is close to cis-[PtCl2(NH3)2].