Synthesis, crystal structure, antibacterial assay and DNA binding activity of new binuclear Cu(II) complexes with bridging oxamidate

Two new binuclear copper complexes, [Cu2(oxpn)(bpy)(pic)(H2O)](pic) (1) and [Cu2(oxpn)(Me2bpy)(pic)](pic) (2) [H2oxpn = N,N′-bis(3-aminopropyl)oxamide; Hpic = 2,4,6-trinitrophenol; bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine; Me2bpy = 4,4′-dimethyl-2,2′-bipyridine], have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, conductivity measurements, IR, UV–visible spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray analyses. Both complexes have similar molecular structures. In complex 1, the central two Cu(II) atoms are bridged by cis-oxpn2− with the Cu1–Cu2 separation of 5.221 Å and the polyhedron of each copper atom is a square-pyramid. Similarly, complex 2 is a cis-oxpn2−-bridged binuclear complex with the Cu1–Cu2 separation of 5.196 Å. Cu1(II) central atom situated in a tetrahedral geometry is four-coordinated and Cu(II) atom situated in a square-pyramidal geometry is five-coordinated. Hydrogen bonding interactions and π–π stacking interactions link the binuclear copper complex 1 or 2 into a 2D infinite network. The antibacterial assays indicate that the two complexes showed better activities than their ligands. The interactions of the two binuclear complexes with herring sperm DNA (HS-DNA) have been studied by UV absorption titration, fluorescence titration and viscosity measurements. The results suggest that the two binuclear complexes bind to HS-DNA via an intercalative mode.