Theoretical, spectral characterization and antineoplastic activity of new lanthanide complexes

The new cerium(III), lanthanum(III) and neodymium(III) complexes were synthesized in view of their application as cytotoxic agents. The complexes were characterized by different physicochemical methods: elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and IR spectroscopy. The spectra of the complexes were interpreted on the basis of comparison with the spectrum of the free ligand. The vibrational analysis showed that in the complexes the ligand coordinates to the metal ion through both deprotonated hydroxyl groups, however participation of the carbonyl groups in the coordination to the metal ion was also suggested. Geometry optimization of 3,3′-(ortho-pyridinomethylene)di-[4-hydroxycoumarin] H2(o-pyhc), (H2L) and its dianionic forms, o-pyhc2−, (L2−) were carried out at AM1 and PM3 levels as well as using density functional theory with Becke's three parameter hybrid method and correlation functional of Lee, Yang and Parr (B3LYP) with 6–31G(d) basis set. The optimized geometries of the neutral ligand isomers were stabilized by two asymmetrical intramolecular O–H…O hydrogen bonds (HBs). The conformational search showed four low-energy dianionic species (o-pyhc2−) on the potential energy surface. Molecular electrostatic potential calculations showed that the most preferred sites for electrophilic attack in H2(o-pyhc) and o-pyhc2− are the carbonyl oxygen atoms. The evaluation of the cytotoxic activity of the novel lantanide complexes on HL-60 myeloid cells revealed, that they are potent cytotoxic agents. The cerium complex was found to exhibit superior activity in comparison to the lanthanum, and neodymium species, the latter being the least active. Taken together our data give us a reason to conclude that the newly synthesized lanthanide complexes should be a subset to further more detailed pharmacological and toxicological evaluation.