Synthesis, structural characterization and in vitro cytotoxicity of diorganotin (IV) diimido complexes.

Reactions of the diorganotin with two N-OH diimide ligands (N-hydroxyphthalimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide) yielded five new dimeric tetraorganostannoxanes formulated as R(8)Sn(4)O(2)L(2)X(2). The crystal structures of the complexes reveal the formation of the tetranuclear species contains a planar Sn(4)O(4) core, consisting of three adjacent rhombs with bridging oxo and N-OH diimide ligands. The central tin atoms are five-coordinated to assume a distorted trigonal bipyramidal configuration and the N-OH diimide ligands act as monodentate O-bound planar. In vitro cytotoxic activities of the title compounds have been determined against three cell lines (A549, HCT-8 and HL-60). Studies reveal that three di-n-butyltin(IV) diimido complexes show higher cytotoxic activities than cisplatin. The structure-activity relationship of the cytotoxicity of the title complexes has also been discussed.