Important cytotoxic and cytostatic effects of new copper(i)-phosphane compounds with N,N, N,O and N,S bidentate ligandsElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. CCDC 1812207-1812211. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c8dt01653d

A family of six phosphane Cu( i ) complexes bearing N,N, N,O and N,S bidentate ligands was synthesized. All the compounds were fully characterized by classical analytical and spectroscopic methods, and five of them were also characterized by X-ray diffraction studies. All the compounds exhibit high cytotoxicity against the human breast cancer cell line MCF7 with IC 50 values far lower than those found for cisplatin, a current chemotherapeutic in clinical use. Compounds 1&cmb.b.line; and 3&cmb.b.line; induce cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase and cell death by apoptosis. The cytotoxic and cytostatic effects of these compounds on MCF7 cells suggest that they are suitable for further in vivo studies with breast cancer models. Synthesis of new phosphane-Cu( i ) complexes with bidentate ligands displaying cytotoxic and cytostatic effects that make them attractive as anticancer agents.