Design of a mononuclear copper(II)-phenanthroline complex: Catechol oxidation, DNA cleavage and antitumor properties

A mononuclear copper(II) complex [Cu(phen)(OH2)2(NO3)](NO3) (1) has been evaluated as model system for the catechol oxidase enzyme by using 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol (DTBC) as the substrate in methanol medium, revealing that 1 exhibits greater catalytic activity with Kcat value 3.91 × 103 h−1. The complex cleaves the double strand of pBR 322 plasmid DNA in a concentration-dependent manner and is cytotoxic to the human hepatocarcinoma cell HepG2.67