β-Cyclodextrin assisted solubilization of Cu and Cr complexes of flavonoids in aqueous medium: A DNA-interaction study

•Interaction of metal complexes of flavonoids-ds.DNA are focused in this study.•Water insoluble complexes were solubilized by using biocompatible β-cyclodextrin.•Cu–flavonoid–βCD could bind strongly to ds.DNA through intercalation.•Cr–flavonoid–βCD pointed electrostatic mode of binding to ds.DNA.•Beta-cyclodextrin mediated inclusion complexes of Cu–flavonoid are compact.

Cu and Cr complexes of three flavonoids (morin, quercetin and 6-hydroxyflavone) were synthesized and included in beta-cyclodextrin (βCD) with the objective of improving their pharmacokinetic profiles. Then binding with ds.DNA was studied to monitor their interactive tendencies at physiological conditions. The binding constants and other thermodynamic data from UV–vis spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry revealed Cr–flavonoid–βCD to interact with ds.DNA at pH-7.4 through electrostatic mode of binding while Cu–flavonoid–βCD can intercalate into DNA. The strong binding propensity of Cu–flavonoid–βCD with ds.DNA encourages their application as anticancerous agent.

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