Synthesis, crystal structure, magnetic property, and nuclease activity of a binuclear iron(III) complex

Abstract

A μ-oxo-di-μ-carboxylato-bridged iron(III) complex containing two tridentate nitrogen ligands, {[Fe₂(bpma)(bpea)(μ-CH₃COO)₂ μ-O)] · (ClO₄)₂ · 0.5CH₃OH} (1) (bpma = N, N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)methyl-amine, bpea = N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylamine), has been synthesized and determined by X-ray diffraction. Complex 1 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁/c with a = 10.9434(12) Å, b = 23.118(3) Å, c = 15.8721(18) Å, β = 92.736(2)° and Z = 4. In 1, each Fe(III) has a distorted octahedral geometry with a N₃O₃ donor set. The Fe(III) atoms are bridged by two carboxyl groups and one μ-oxo oxygen with Fe1–Fe2 separation of 3.064 Å. Susceptibility data of 1 indicate strong intramolecular antiferromagnetic coupling of the high-spin Fe(III) atoms with J = −121.0 cm⁻¹ and g = 2.04. The interaction with calf thymus DNA was investigated by UV absorption and fluorescent spectroscopy. Results show that the complex binds to ct-DNA with a moderate intercalative mode. The interaction between 1 and pBR322 DNA has also been investigated by submarine gel electrophoresis; the complex exhibits effective DNA cleavage activity in the absence of activating agents under similar physiological conditions.

Keywords:

• Iron(III)
• Crystal structure
• Magnetic property
• DNA binding
• DNA cleavage

Acknowledgements

This work was supported financially by the National Science Foundation of China (No. 20331020, 20571056 and 20771063), the Education Science Foundation of Tianjin City (No. 20070606) and the PhD Foundation of Tianjin Normal University (No. 52LX28).