A ruthenium(II)-arene complex with picolinic acid, [(eta(6)-p-cymene)RuCl(pico)]center dot H2O, was prepared by the reaction of [(eta(6)-p-cymene)RuCl2](2) with picolinic acid in a 1:2 molar ratio in 2-propanol. The compound was characterized by elemental analysis, and IR and NMR spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the molecule adopts a "three-leg piano-stool"geometry, which is common for this type of complexes. The cytotoxic activity of the complex was tested in two human cancer cell lines HeLa (cervix) and FemX (melanoma) by MTT assay. The IC50 values were at 82.0 and 36.2 mu mol dm(-3) for HeLa and FemX cells, respectively.