Synthesis, characterization and in vitro biological activity studies of Cu-M (M = Cu2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Mn2+, Zn2+) bimetallic complexes.

Six new bimetallic complexes of the type CuCu, CuCo, CuNi, CuZn and CuMn were prepared. The structures of these complexes and the ligand have been proposed on the basis of FAB mass, elemental analysis, UV-vis, IR, EPR and CV studies. All the complexes completely cleave pBS (SK-) DNA at a concentration of 10 microM; however, even at lower concentrations of 2 microM and 0.1 microM, the complexes (I and Ia) showed partial cleavage. The results of the fluorescence binding studies of the metal complexes with CT-DNA showed that the presence of aliphatic ligands added additional binding effects including electrostatic, hydrogen binding and vander Waals interactions. Complexes (I, Ia) showed 50% inhibition of COX-1 and COX-2 activities at as low a concentration as 12.5 microM, 13.5 microM, 14 microM and 14.5 microM. Inhibition assay of top I and top II by different complexes in mutant yeast strains (JN394, JN394 t(-1) and JN394 t(2-5)) with all the complexes showed significant inhibition of topoisomerase at 5 microM concentration. Complexes I and Ia exhibited good anti-microbial activities against all human pathogens tested except Klebsiella pneumoniae. The following studies showed that among the synthesized bimetallic complexes, complexes I and Ia seem to be promising candidates possessing DNA cleavage activities besides anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties to serve as chemical nucleases and chemotherapeutic agents.

Spectroscopic and electrochemical studies of hetero-bimetallic copper complexes with Schiff's base ligand.

Using Schiff's base ligand, several Cu(II) based bimetallic complexes such as Cu-Cu, Cu-Co, Cu-Ni, Cu-Zn, Cu-Mn have been prepared in a stepwise procedure. The structures of these complexes and the ligand have been proposed on the basis of FAB mass, elemental analysis, UV-vis, IR, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and CV studies. EPR parameters, obtained through complete simulation, suggest that the formation of bimetallic complexes forces the Cu(II) centre to increase the flexibility in comparison with the monometallic Cu(II) complex. However, the nature of the second metal ion in the bimetallic complex effects the distortion around the first metal ion. The reduction of the complexes from Cu(II) to Cu(I) involves a large geometrical change and is found to be irreversible. A large positive shift is seen in the cathodic process, which can be ascribed to increased distortion due to bimetallic coordination. These complexes have potential usage in DNA studies.

Synthesis, physico-chemical and DNA interaction studies of homo- and hetero-trinuclear complexes.

Synthesis and characterization of three new trinuclear metal complexes of type Cu3, Cu2Zn and Cu2Ni have been achieved by assembling simple mononuclear complexes, namely 2,2'-bipyridyl 3,4-dihydroxo benzaldehyde copper(II) complex and diethylenetriamine complexes of copper(II), nickel(II) and zinc(II) ions, through the reaction of coordinated ligands. The FAB mass spectra for the complexes show fragmentation pattern in accordance with the molecular formula. The frozen electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum of tricopper complex shows two sets of parallel lines with approximately 2:1 ratio. The simulation has been carried out by considering dipolar interaction between the two types of copper ions present in the complex. The trimetallic complexes, Cu3, Cu2Ni and Cu2Zn show strong intercalation type of interaction with Calf thymus DNA in 0.02 mol L(-1) of phosphate buffer containing 60 mmol sodium chloride at pH 7.0 at room temperature. The binding constant is found to be in the order Cu3