Synthesis,characterization, spectrophotometric and electrochemistry studies,and DNA cleavage of copper(II) complexes of a new azacrown bis-macrocycle and its mono-cyclic analogue

A new azacrown bis-macrocycle (5) and its mono–cyclic analogue (7) were synthesized and characterized by FT-IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, DEPT ¹³C NMR, MS, and elemental analysis. The reaction with copper(II) nitrate yielded the corresponding complexes, formulated as Cu(5)(NO₃)₂·3H₂O (8), and Cu(7)(NO₃)₂·2.5H₂O (9). Also the stoichiometries of the complexes were determined in alcoholic solution and the results show that for both complexes the ratio of ligand to metal was 1:1 in methanol. The redox behavior of both complexes has been studied by cyclic voltammetry in DMF. Cyclic voltamogram of 8 shows quasi-reversible Cu^II/Cu^I redox couple whereas 9 shows a reversible Cu^II/Cu^I redox couple. Mono- and bis-macrocycle copper(II) complexes (8 and 9 respectively) cleaved plasmid pGS2 DNA by using an oxidative mechanism with 3- mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) as the reductant under aerobic conditions. The bis-macrocycle copper(II) complex 8 showed higher cleavage efficiency than their mono-macrocycle analogue 9 at the same Cu²⁺ concentration.