New stibine and bismuthine substituted thienyl ring compounds, i.e. tris(3-methyl-2-thienyl)stibine (1), tris(3-methyl-2-thienyl)bismuthine (2), tris(3-thienyl)stibine (3), tris(3-thienyl)bismuthine (4) and tris(5-chloro-2-thienyl)stibine (5), have been synthesized and characterized by IR, mass, 1 H, 13 C, COSY, and HETCOR NMR spectroscopy. The metal centres in all compounds are pyramidal, and molecules in the stibine compound (1) and bismuthine compound (2) associate via Sb· · ·S or Bi· · ·S interactions to form supramolecular chains.The cytotoxicity of compounds 1 and 5 was determined. For compound 5, 85% of carcinogenic cell growth inhibition (U, K and H) was observed. Compound 1 shows a significant selectivity (>80%) for carcinogenic cell growth (K and U) inhibition. Both the compounds are highly toxic for the growth of normal lymphocytes with ∼95% lethality. Compound 1 is approximately 20 times more toxic than 5 against Artemia salina.