Studies on the manganese and copper complexes derived from chiral Schiff base: synthesis, structure, cytotoxicity and DNA/BSA interaction

Abstract

Three new manganese and copper complexes, [Mn(ONO-(S)L¹)₂] (1), [Cu(ONO-(R)L²)]₄·2CH₃OH (2), and [Mn₃(ONO-(S)L³)₄(OAc)₄(H₂O)₂] (3), {[H₂L¹ = (S)-2-phenyl-2-(2-hydroxy-5-chlorobenzylideneamino)ethane-1-ol], H₂L² = (R)-2-(2-hydroxy-5-chlorobenzylideneamino)butane-1-ol] and H₂L³ = (S)-2-phenyl-2-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylideneamino)ethane-1-ol]}, have been synthesized. The crystal structures of 1–3 were determined through single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The structure of mononuclear 1 shows a six-coordinate octahedral geometry around the manganese ion. Complex 2 is a five-coordinate tetranuclear copper complex with the central Cu atoms adopting distorted square pyramidal geometry. Complex 3 shows a trinuclear structure with the six-coordinate Mn ions surrounded by four L³ ligands and acetate ions. The in vitro cytotoxicity screening revealed that the 1–3 had substantial cytotoxicity against three cancer cell lines (HepG2, MDA-MB-231, and A549), even higher than that of cisplatin. Inspiringly, 2 derived from (R)-Schiff base ligand H₂L² was more potent against MDA-MB-231 cells. Interaction of 1–3 with calf-thymus DNA (CT-DNA) has been investigated using UV-vis, viscosity and thermal denaturation experiments. It was found that 1 binds with DNA through intercalation while 2 and 3 interact with DNA probably through groove-binding and electrostatic mode. In addition, the capability of the complexes to bind with bovine serum albumin was monitored using some spectral techniques. The metal ions, chiral and nuclearity have significant influences on the properties of the title compounds.

Keywords:

• Manganese complex
• copper complex
• chiral Schiff base
• cytotoxicity
• DNA/BSA

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2015BM024 and ZR2013BM017) and the Natural Science Foundation of China (21105042).