1-Benzoylthioureas contain both carbonyl and thiocarbonyl functional groups and are of interest for their biological activity, metal coordination ability and involvement in hydrogen-bond formation. Two novel 1-benzoylthiourea derivatives, namely 1-benzoyl-3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)thiourea, C₁₆H₁₆N₂O₃S, (I), and 1-benzoyl-3-(2-hydroxypropyl)thiourea, C₁₁H₁₄N₂O₂S, (II), have been synthesized and characterized. Compound (I) crystallizes in the space group P\overline{1}, while (II) crystallizes in the space group P2₁/c. In both structures, intramolecular N—H...O hydrogen bonding is present. The resulting six-membered pseudo-rings are quasi-aromatic and, in each case, interact with phenyl rings via stacking-type interactions. C—H...O, C—H...S and C—H...π interactions are also present. In (I), there is one molecule in the asymmetric unit. Pairs of molecules are connected via two intermolecular N—H...S hydrogen bonds, forming centrosymmetric dimers. In (II), there are two symmetry-independent molecules that differ mainly in the relative orientations of the phenyl rings with respect to the thiourea cores. Additional strong hydrogen-bond donor and acceptor –OH groups participate in the formation of intermolecular N—H...O and O—H...S hydrogen bonds that join molecules into chains extending in the [001] direction.

The crystal structures of two newly synthesized nitrilotriacetate oxidovanadium(IV) salts, namely [QH][VO(nta)(H₂O)](H₂O)₂ (I) and [(acr)H][VO(nta)(H₂O)](H₂O)₂ (II), were determined. Additionally, the cytotoxic effects of four N-heterocyclic nitrilotriacetate oxidovanadium(IV) salts—1,10-phenanthrolinium, [(phen)H][VO(nta)(H₂O)](H₂O)_0.5 (III), 2,2′-bipyridinium [(bpy)H][VO(nta)(H₂O)](H₂O) (IV), and two newly synthesized compounds (I) and (II)—were evaluated against prostate cancer (PC3) and breast cancer (MCF-7) cells. All the compounds exhibited strong cytotoxic effects on cancer cells and normal cells (HaCaT human keratinocytes). The structure–activity relationship analysis revealed that the number and arrangement of conjugated aromatic rings in the counterion had an impact on the antitumor effect. The compound (III), the 1,10-phenanthrolinium analogue, exhibited the greatest activity, whereas the acridinium salt (II), with a different arrangement of three conjugated aromatic rings, showed the lowest toxicity. The increased concentrations of the compounds resulted in alterations to the cell cycle distribution with different effects in MCF-7 and PC3 cells. In MCF-7 cells, compounds I and II were observed to block the G₂/M phase, while compounds III and IV were found to arrest the cell cycle in the G₀/G₁ phase. In PC3 cells, all compounds increased the rates of cells in the G₀/G₁ phase.