Synthesis, structure information, DNA/BSA binding affinity and in vitro cytotoxic studies of mixed ligand copper(II) complexes containing a phenylalanine derivative and diimine co-ligands.

Binary [Cu(PAIC)(H2O)2]·H2O (1) and mixed ligand [Cu(PAIC)(L)]·2H2O complexes, where PAIC=phenylalanine imidazole carboxylic acid, L=diimine coligands [2,2'-bipyridine (bpy) (2) and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) (3)] have been synthesized and fully characterized by analytical and spectral techniques. The X-ray structure of [Cu(PAIC)(phen)]·2H2O (3) shows a N4O coordination with square pyramidal geometry around the copper (II) atom. The spin Hamiltonian parameters calculated for the complexes account for the distorted square planar structure and rules out the possibility of a trigonal bipyramidal structure. Interaction of the complexes (1-3) with calf thymus DNA (CT DNA) was studied by using different techniques (absorption titration, fluorescence quenching and thermal melting) and the studies suggest that these complexes bind to CT DNA through intercalation. The DNA-binding affinity of the complexes has further been explained by DFT computational results. Binding activity of Bovine serum albumin (BSA) reveals that the complexes can strongly quench the intrinsic fluorescence of BSA through a static quenching mechanism. DNA cleavage experiments using plasmid DNA pUC 19 show that the complexes exhibit efficient chemical nuclease activity even in the absence of any external additives. The cytotoxicity of the complexes against human normal cell line (HBL 100) and human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) shows that metal complexation of the ligands results in a significant enhancement in the cell death of MCF-7. Finally, docking studies on DNA and protein binding interactions were performed.
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