A Study of the Antitumour Activity of Four Triorganophosphinegold(I) Thiolates: R(3) PAu(SR'), R = Ph, Cy, Et; SR'H = 6-Mercaptopurine and R = Et; SR'H = 6-Thioguanine

The antitumour activities of four triorganophosphinegold(I) thiolates, R(2)PAu(S'R) R = Ph, Cy, Et; SR'H = 6-mercaptopurine and R Et; SR'H = 6-thioguanine] against the National Cancer Institute (NCI) panel of 60 cell lines are reported The Cy(3)PAu(6-MP)] complex proved to be the more cytotoxic of the four complexes tested. For the 6-MP series, an order of cytotoxicity was established such that the activity followed the order R = Cy > Ph > Et. Sub-panel selectivity against the Leukemia cell lines was found for each of Cy(3) PAu(6-MP)] and Et(3)PAu(6-TG)].