Five new diorganotin complexes containing arylformylhydrazone ligands as anticancer agents

•A 16-membered macrocyclic organotin complex and four dimer distannoxane structures organotin complexes were obtained by one-pot microwave-assisted synthesis.•In the CCK8 test, the C2 demonstrates potent activity against the HepG2 with an IC50 of 0.51 ± 0.11 μM.•Molecular docking was performed to simulate the binding pattern of complexes and DNA.•The results of viscosity, ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, and fluorescence spectroscopy experiments consistently demonstrated that C2 interacted with DNA via intercalation. Five diorganotin complexes were synthesized through the reactions involving benzoyl hydrazine, sodium phenylpyruvate, and the respective dialkyltin compounds. All complexes underwent comprehensive characterization employing various techniques, including infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H, 13C, 119Sn), high-resolution mass spectrometry, elemental analysis, X-ray single crystal diffraction, and thermogravimetric analysis. The structural analysis revealed that the ligands in the complexes adopted a tridentate chelating mode. In order to assess their potential as antitumor agents, the complexes were subjected to an in vitro evaluation using the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. The results indicated that C2 exhibited enhanced efficacy, suggesting its suitability for further chemical optimization and potential application in cancer therapy. Molecular docking was employed to predict the binding mode between complex and DNA. To gain insights into the interaction between C2 and DNA a series of experiments, including viscosity experiments, ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, fluorescence spectroscopy, and gel electrophoresis were conducted. The findings consistently demonstrated that C2 interacted with DNA via intercalation. Five organotin complexes have been successfully prepared. In vitro antitumor activities test, the dibutyltin complexes C2 show higher activity than the complexes with phenyl, benzyl, and substituted benzyl for the inhibiting cell line. [Display omitted]