A series of two-photon absorption organotin (IV) cyano carboxylate derivatives for targeting nuclear and visualization of anticancer activities.

Compared to organotin (IV) compounds with biochemical activity, two-photon absorption (2PA) organotin (IV) complexes for targeting nuclear with anticancer activities are rarely reported. Here, two novel 2PA organotin (IV) cyano carboxylate complexes (C1Sn-1, C1Sn-2) are synthesized and characterized. The two-photon absorption cross section values (δ) in the near-infrared region are significantly enhanced for C1Sn-2 compared to C1Sn-1, thus developing for targeting nuclear by two-photon fluorescence microscopy (2PFM). C1Sn-2 could specifically target nuclear DNA in vitro. The mechanism demonstrated that there are abundant hydrogen bond interactions between hydroxy group of C1Sn-2 and DNA. The animal mode studies are first proposed that C1Sn-2 displayed a certain anti-cancer efficiency with non-significant toxicity.