Dinuclear copper(I) complexes with N-heterocyclic thione and selone ligands: synthesis, characterization, and electrochemical studies.

The synthesis, characterization, and structures of a series of homoleptic and heteroleptic copper(I) complexes supported by N-heterocyclic chalcogenone ligands is reported herein. The quasi-reversible Cu(II/I) reduction potentials of these copper complexes with monodentate (dmit or dmise) and/or bidentate (Bmm(Me), Bsem(Me), Bme(Me), Bsee(Me)) chalcogenone ligands are highly dependent upon the nature and number of the donor groups and can be tuned over a 470 mV range (-369 to 102 mV). Copper-selone complexes have more negative Cu(II/I) reduction potentials relative to their thione analogs by an average of 137 mV, and increasing the number of methylene units linking the heterocyclic rings in the bidentate ligands results in more negative reduction potentials for their copper complexes. This ability to tune the copper reduction potentials over a wide range has potential applications in synthetic and industrial catalysis as well as the understanding of important biological processes such as electron transfer in blue copper proteins and respiration.

Facile synthesis of deuterated and [(14) C]labeled analogs of vanillin and curcumin for use as mechanistic and analytical tools.

Curcumin is a dietary diphenol with antioxidant, antinflammatory, and antitumor activity. We describe facile procedures for the synthesis of [(14) C2 ]curcumin (4 mCi/mmol), [d6 ]curcumin, [d3 ]curcumin, [(13) C5 ]curcumin, and [d6 ]bicyclopentadione, the major oxidative metabolite of curcumin. We also describe synthesis of the labeled building blocks [(14) C]vanillin, [d3 ]vanillin, and [(13) C5 ]acetylacetone. The overall molar yields of the labeled products were 52 ([(14) C]) and 47% ([d3 ]) for vanillin and 25 ([(14) C2 ]) and 27% ([d6 ]) for curcumin. The compounds can be used as radiotracers in biotransformation studies and as isotopic standards for mass spectrometry-based quantification in pharmacokinetic analyses.

Synthesis, aqueous reactivity, and biological evaluation of carboxylic acid ester-functionalized platinum-acridine hybrid anticancer agents.

The synthesis of platinum-acridine hybrid agents containing carboxylic acid ester groups is described. The most active derivatives and the unmodified parent compounds showed up to 6-fold higher activity in ovarian cancer (OVCAR-3) and breast cancer (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231) cell lines than cisplatin. Inhibition of cell proliferation at nanomolar concentrations was observed in pancreatic (PANC-1) and nonsmall cell lung cancer cells (NSCLC, NCI-H460) of 80- and 150-fold, respectively. Introduction of the ester groups did not affect the cytotoxic properties of the hybrids, which form the same monofunctional-intercalative DNA adducts as the parent compounds, as demonstrated in a plasmid unwinding assay. In-line high-performance liquid chromatography and electrospray mass spectrometry (LC-ESMS) shows that the ester moieties undergo platinum-mediated hydrolysis in a chloride concentration-dependent manner to form carboxylate chelates. Potential applications of the chloride-sensitive ester hydrolysis as a self-immolative release mechanism for tumor-selective delivery of platinum-acridines are discussed.

Unusual Reactivity of a Potent Platinum-Acridine Hybrid Antitumor Agent.

The formation of unusual seven-membered, sterically overloaded chelates [Pt(en)(L/L´)](NO(3))(2) (4a/4b) from the corresponding potent hybrid antitumor agents [PtCl(en)(LH/L´H)](NO(3))(2) (3a/3b) is described, where en is ethane-1,2-diamine and L(H) and L´(H) are (protonated) N-(2-(acridin-9-ylamino)ethyl)-N-methylpropionimidamide and N-(2-(acridin-9-ylamino)ethyl)-N-methylacetimidamide, respectively. Compounds 3a and 3b inhibit H460 lung cancer cell proliferation with IC(50) values of 12 ± 2 nM and 2.8 ± 0.3 nM, respectively. The new derivative 3b proves to be not only the most cytotoxic platinum-acridine hybrid of this kind, but also one of the most potent platinum-based anticancer agents described to date. The chelates 4a and 4b do not undergo ligand substitution reactions with nucleobase nitrogen and cysteine sulfur and do not intercalate into DNA. Despite their inertness, the two chelates appear to maintain micromolar activity in H460 cells. The results are discussed in the context of potential DNA-mediated and DNA-independent cell kill mechanisms and the potential use of the chelates as prodrugs.

Manganese(I) poly(mercaptoimidazolyl)borate complexes: spectroscopic and structural characterization of Mn...H-B interactions in solution and in the solid state.

The manganese(I) tricarbonyl complexes (Bm(R))Mn(CO)3(R = Me, Bz, But, p-Tol) and (PhBmMe)Mn(CO)3, the first bis(mercaptoimidazolyl)borate derivatives for this metal, have been readily prepared and fully characterized. In particular, the presence of three-center-two-electron Mn...H-B interactions in these species, both in solution and in the solid state, has been investigated using a combination of IR and NMR spectroscopies and, in the case of the methyl-, tert-butyl- and para-tolyl-substituted derivatives, by X-ray crystallography. To complement these synthetic and structural studies, the tris(mercaptoimidazolyl)borate complexes (TmMe)Mn(CO)3(R = Me, Bz, But, p-Tol) and (PhTm(Me))Mn(CO)3, as well as the related pyrazolylbis(mercaptoimidazolyl)borate (pzBmMe)Mn(CO)3, have also been synthesized and characterized by a combination of analytical and spectroscopic techniques.