Synthesis, spectral analysis, antimicrobial, cytotoxicity, and antioxidant studies of gold(III) complex of caffeine

Abstract

In the present study, the reactions involving caffeine (CA) and gold(III) were investigated. The synthesized complex was characterized by using mass, UV–visible, FTIR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR, and TG-DTA analyses. From these analyses, it is predicted that the complex has the formula [Au(CA)₂(Cl)₂]Cl. In addition, antimicrobial, cytotoxicity, and antioxidant activities of the obtained complex were investigated. Investigation of antimicrobial properties demonstrated that the complex has important antibacterial and antifungal activities. The cytotoxic activity of the complex showed potent cytotoxicity against growth of human prostate (Du145), cervix (HeLa), colon (HT29), and breast (MCF7) cancer cells. Additionally, the complex showed significant antioxidant activity.

Keywords:

• Gold(III)
• spectral analysis
• antimicrobial activity
• cytotoxicity
• antioxidant activity

Acknowledgements

We thank Trakya University TUBAP-2010/72 for financial support. We confirm that “Trakya University” only provided financial support within the scope of the project for chemicals in the manuscript and we declare that the support received did not lead to any financial conflict of interests regarding the publication of this manuscript. There is no need for Trakya University’s confirmation to publish this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.