Self-Assembly of Discrete Ru^II₈Molecular Cages and Their in Vitro Anticancer Activity

Four new octanuclear Ru(II) cages (OC-1–OC-4) were synthesized from dinuclear p-cymene ruthenium(II) acceptors [Ru2(μ–η4-C2O4)(CH3OH)2(η6-p-cymene)2](O3SCF3)2 (A1), [Ru2(μ–η4-C6H2O4)(CH3OH)2(η6-p-cymene)2](O3SCF3)2 (A2), [Ru2(dhnq)(H2O)2(η6-p-cymene)2](O3SCF3)2 (A3), and [Ru2(dhtq)(H2O)2(η6-p-cymene)2](O3SCF3)2 (A4) separately with a tetradentate pyridyl ligand (L1) in methanol using coordination-driven self-assembly [L1=...