Investigation of photoluminescence and DNA binding properties of benzimidazole compounds containing benzophenone group

Abstract

The synthesis of benzimidazole compounds containing benzophenone group in accordance with the literature and the investigation of DNA binding properties of these compounds by using UV-vis and photoluminescence spectroscopy methods constitute the basis of this research. The structures of the compounds were determined by methods such as FT-IR, ¹H, ¹³C NMR, UV-vis, Photoluminescence spectroscopy, and X-ray crystallography. By using methods such as UV-vis, Photoluminescence spectroscopy, and viscosity tests, information were collected about the binding types, binding mode, and binding energies of the compounds with DNA. In addition, the binding interactions of the compounds with DNA were investigated using the molecular docking technique. Using this information, calibration equations, correlation coefficients (r²), and DNA binding constants (K_b) were calculated for their compounds. The binding constants (K_b) calculated for substances A, B, and C were found to be 3.0 × 10⁴, 7.0 × 10⁴, and 3.0 × 10⁴ M⁻¹, respectively. UV-vis, EB competitive binding, and viscosity tests showed that the compounds tended to bind to the DNA structure via the groove binding mode. At the end of molecular docking studies, it was determined that compound B showed the best DNA binding activity in in vitro studies. Compared with the studies in the literature, it is thought that the synthesized compounds can take place in cancer drug research as DNA binding agents.

Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Keywords:

• DNA binding properties
• benzimidazole
• benzophenone
• spectroscopy
• X-ray crystallography

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that supports the findings of this study are available in the Supplementary Material of this article.

Additional information

Funding

The authors reported no funding for the work featured in this article.