Synthesis and antitumor activity of gold(I) N-heterocyclic carbene with dithiocarbamate and alkynyl complexes

A series of new type gold(I) N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes bearing a paeonol ligand in the side chain of NHC and bearing dithiocarbamate or alkynyl groups as a second ligand have been synthesized and structurally characterized by spectroscopic methods. The structure of Pa-NHC-Au-Cl has been established by X-ray crystallography. Their antitumor activities in vitro were investigated by CCK8 assay against two tumor cell lines (A549 and Hela). The gold(I) NHC with dithiocarbamate (DTC) complexes showed good to excellent antiproliferative activity and strongly inhibited the selenoenzyme thioredoxin reductase (TrxR).