Binuclear copper complexes: Synthesis, X-ray structure and interaction study with nucleotide/protein by in vitro biochemical and electrochemical analysis

•Two new, chloro-bridged binuclear copper-hydrazone complexes were synthesized.•The complexes exhibited intercalative mode of interaction with DNA.•Both the binuclear complexes bind with BSA via static interaction.•One of the complexes showed more toxicity to HeLa cell lines (IC50 = 0.7 μM).

Two new, binuclear copper(II) hydrazone complexes have been synthesized and characterized by various physico-chemical techniques including single crystal X-ray diffraction. Interaction of these complexes with nucleotide and protein were analyzed by in vitro biochemical and electrochemical analysis. Both the complexes exhibited intercalative mode of binding with DNA. Further, gel electrophoresis assay demonstrated the ability of the complexes to cleave the supercoiled pBR322 plasmid DNA to nicked circular DNA form. Cytotoxicity of the complexes performed against a panel of cancer cell lines and a normal cell line proved that these complexes are potentially cytotoxic against the cancerous cell lines, particularly with IC50 as low as 0.7 μM against HeLa cell line.

Graphical abstractTwo new binuclear copper(II) complexes possessing square-pyramidal geometry were synthesized and the complex 1 exhibited very high cytotoxicity (IC50 = 0.7 μm) to arrest the growth of cancer cells.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide