Abstract : A tetrahedral ruthenium-arene complex with anticancer properties has been studied, which  shows less toxicity and higher selectivity towards carcinogenic cells than the most commonly used platinum complexes.
The mechanism of anticancer action is photodissociative where pyridine dissociates from ruthenium, and is substituted by a molecule of water after being irradiated with light. Then, this compound is bound to a protein or DNA.