DOI: https://doi.org/10.55373/mjchem.v25i4.207

Keywords: N-heterocyclic carbene; dicarbene; silver(I)-NHC complexes; anticancer studies; human cervical; IC50

Abstract

A series of asymmetric bis-benzimidazolium salts (1-6) and their respective dinuclear silver(I) di-NHC complexes (7-12) were successfully synthesized and characterized (where NHC = N-heterocyclic carbene). Each asymmetric salt was prepared through a quaternization reaction with the resulting NHC ligand being a bridging ligand to two adjacent metal ions. All synthesized compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR, and 1H and 13C NMR. All salts and dinuclear silver(I) di-NHC complexes were evaluated against the cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa) cancer cell line using MTT assays. Preliminary results indicated that all compounds demonstrated dose-dependent cytotoxic activity, while compound 6 demonstrated moderate cytotoxicity against non-cancerous Hs27 cells. The dinuclear silver(I) di-NHC complexes showed significant IC50 values in the range of 2.91 – 5.97 µg/mL, compared to the standard drug, etoposide (IC50 = 3.15 µg/mL).