Versatile coordination behavior of N,N-di(alkyl/aryl)-N′-benzoylthiourea ligands: Synthesis, crystal structure and cytotoxicity of palladium(II) complexes

The synthesis and characterization of Pd(II) complexes with the general formula cis-[Pd(L-O,S)2] (HL = N,N-diethyl-N′-benzoylthiourea, N,N-diisobutyl-N′-benzoylthiourea or N,N-dibenzyl-N′-benzoylthiourea) and trans-[PdCl2(HL-S)2] (HL = N,N-diphenyl-N′-benzoylthiourea, N,N-di-n-butyl-N′-benzoylthiourea or N,N-diisopropyl-N′-benzoylthiourea) are reported. These complexes were formed from the reaction between PdCl2 and N,N-di(alky/aryl)-N′-benzoylthiourea in acetonitrile with the formulation dependent on the nature of HL. The new Pd(II) complexes have been characterized by analytical and spectral (FT-IR, UV–Vis, 1H NMR and 13C NMR, Mass) techniques. The molecular structures of two of the complexes (1 and 5) have been conformed by X-ray crystallography. Complex 1 shows cytotoxicity against human breast cancer cells.