New palladium (II) and platinum (II) complexes with coumarin based O,N,N pincer: Synthesis, structure elucidation, BSA protein binding studies, and anticancer activity.

New Pd (II) and Pt (II) complexes (C1/C2) with a O,N,N donor pincer ligand, 4‐hydroxy‐3‐((E)‐1‐(((Z)‐phenyl (pyridin‐2‐yl)methylene)hydrazono)ethyl)‐2H‐chromen‐2‐one (HL) were synthesized and methodically characterized by several spectroscopic and XRD techniques. Absorption and fluorescence techniques were used to assess the mechanism of interaction of the complexes with bovine serum albumin protein. MTT assay was executed to investigate the antiproliferative activity of the complexes with several cancer cell lines (MCF‐7, HCT116, A549, and HepG2) along with a normal cell line (PBMC). Both C1 and C2 showed better antiproliferative activity with HepG2 cell line (IC50 value of 15.3 and 5.1 μM, respectively). A cytotoxicity study was performed, and complex C2 exhibited a better antiproliferative activity as compared to C1. The morphological changes were also examined by staining methods, and fragmented DNA unveiled that the cell death took place through apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]