Crystal structures and DNA cleavage activities of two mononuclear nickel(II) complexes

Abstract

Two new nickel complexes, [Ni(L₁)₂] · 2(CH₃OH) (1) and [Ni(L₂)₂] · 2(CH₃OH) (2), where HL₁ is 4-chloro-2-((2-hydroxy-ethylimino)methyl)phenol and HL₂ is 4-fluoro-2-((2-hydroxy-ethylimino)methyl)phenol, have been synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and UV-Vis absorption spectra. The coordination polyhedron of nickel(II) in each complex can be described as distorted octahedral. The interactions between the complexes and calf thymus (CT)-DNA/DNA were investigated by UV-Vis spectra and agarose gel electrophoresis. The results show that the complex transforms supercoiled to nicked form and exhibits effective DNA cleavage activity via hydrolytic cleavage mechanism.

Keywords:

• Nickel complexes
• Crystal structure
• DNA cleavage activities

Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the financial support from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (20971102, 20871097) and the Foundation of the Excellent Middle-Young Innovation Group of Education Department of Hubei province (T200802), China.