Oxidative DNA cleavage by copper ternary complexes of 1,10-phenanthroline and ethylenediamine-sulfonamide derivatives

Ternary copper(II) complexes (1–3) of 1,10-phenanthroline and ethylenediamine-R-sulfonamide derivatives (R = benzene, toluene and naphthalene rings) have been synthesized and characterized with the aid of X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic and electrochemical techniques. The crystal structures of the complexes show that the coordination polyhedron around copper(II) is distorted square planar. Both 1,10-phenanthroline and ethylenediamine-R-sulfonamide act as bidentate ligands. The three structures are stabilized by π–π stacking interactions. The interaction of the complexes with calf thymus DNA has been investigated by thermal denaturation studies which indicated that DNA was stabilized in the presence of the compounds. The increase in DNA stability induced by the complexes follows the order: 3 > 2 > 1. All three complexes were found to be very efficient agents of plasmid DNA cleavage in the presence of ascorbate as reducing agent. Mechanistic studies of the DNA cleavage process performed with radical scavengers show that the reactive oxygen species involved in the DNA damage are the hydroxyl radical, singlet oxygen-like species, the superoxide* and hydrogen peroxide.     

Metallo-Drugs in Cancer Therapy: Past,Present and Future

Cancer treatments which include conventional chemotherapy have not proven very successful in curing human malignancies. The failures of these treatment modalities include inherent resistance, systemic toxicity and severe side effects. Out of 50% patients administrated to chemotherapy, only 5% survive. For these reasons, the identification of new drug designs and therapeutic strategies that could target cancer cells while leaving normal cells unaffected still continues to be a challenge. Despite advances that have led to the development of new therapies, treatment options are still limited for many types of cancers. This review provides an overview of platinum, copper and ruthenium metal based anticancer drugs in clinical trials and in vitro/in vivo studies. Presumably, copper and ruthenium complexes have greater potential than Pt(II) complexes, showing reduced toxicity, a new mechanism of action, a different spectrum of activity and the possibility of non-cross-resistance. We focus the discussion towards past, present and future aspects.     

Quality Control of Commercial Mustard by Thin-Layer Chromatography

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - Horseradish samples (Cochlearis armoracia L.) and mustard samples (Sinapis alba L.) were extracted with 70:30 (v/v)...     

Synthesis of aldehydes and ketones by the dehydrogenation of alcohols in the presence of a Raney nickel/aluminium isopropoxide/alumina catalyst

The synthesis of aldehydes and ketones by the dehydrogenation of allylic and secondary alcohols using a Raney-Ni-Al(i-OPr)₃-Al₂O₃ catalyst without hydrogen acceptors is presented.     

Application of new methodologies based on design of experiments, independent component analysis and design space for robust optimization in liquid chromatography

HPLC separations of an unknown sample mixture and a pharmaceutical formulation have been optimized using a recently developed chemometric methodology proposed by W. Dewé et al. in 2004 and improved by P. Lebrun et al. in 2008. This methodology is based on experimental designs which are used to model retention times of compounds of interest. Then, the prediction accuracy and the optimal separation robustness, including the uncertainty study, were evaluated. Finally, the design space (ICH Q8(R1) guideline) was computed as the probability for a criterion to lie in a selected range of acceptance. Furthermore, the chromatograms were automatically read. Peak detection and peak matching were carried out with a previously developed methodology using independent component analysis published by B. Debrus et al. in 2009. The present successful applications strengthen the high potential of these methodologies for the automated development of chromatographic methods.     

New Cu+2 Complexes with N-Sulfonamide Ligands: Potential Antitumor,Antibacterial, and Antioxidant Agents

Nowadays, the discovery of a new non-toxic metal complex with biological activity represents a very active area of research. Two Cu⁺² complexes, [Cu(L1)₂(H₂O)₃] (C1) (HL1= N-(5-(4-methylphenyl)-[1,3,4]–thiadiazole–2-yl)-naphtalenesulfonamide) and [Cu(L2)₂(py)₂(H₂O)] (C2) (HL2= N-(5-ethyl-[1,3,4]–thiadiazole–2-yl)-naphtalenesulfonamide), with two new ligands were synthesized. The X-ray crystal structures of the complexes were determined. In both complexes, Cu⁺² is five-coordinated, forming a CuN₂O₃ and CuN₄O chromophore, respectively. The ligands act as monodentate, coordinating the metal ion through a single N_thiadiazole atom; for the C2 complex, the molecules from the reaction medium (pyridine and water) are also involved in the coordination of Cu⁺². The complexes have a distorted square pyramidal square-planar geometry. The compounds were characterized by FT-IR, electronic EPR spectroscopy, and magnetic methods. The nuclease activity studies confirm the complexes’ capacity to cleave the DNA molecule. Using a xanthine-xanthine oxydase system, the SOD mimetic activity of the complexes was demonstrated. Cytotoxicity studies were carried out on two tumor cell lines (HeLa, WM35) and on a normal cell line (HFL1) using the MTT method, with cisplatin used as a positive control. The antibacterial activity of the complexes was investigated against two Gram-positive and two Gram-negative bacteria, and compared with Amoxicillin and Norfloxacin using the disk diffusion method. Both complexes showed in vitro biological activity but the C2 complex was more active. A lack of in vivo toxicity was demonstrated for the C2 complex by performing hepatic, renal, and hematological studies on Swiss mice.     

Synthesis,crystallographic and spectroscopic characterization and magnetic properties of dimer and monomer ternary copper(II) complexes with sulfonamide derivatives and 1,10-phenanthroline. Nuclease activity by the oxidative mechanism

Three dinuclear and one mononuclear copper(II)-1,10-phenanthroline ternary complexes, [Cu(L1)(phen)(OH)]₂ (1), [Cu(L2)(phen)(OH)]₂·3H₂O (2), [Cu(L3)(phen)(OH)]₂ (3) and [Cu(L4)₂(phen)(H₂O)] (4), with thiadiazole sulfonamide derivative ligands: HL1 (N-(5-ethyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)naphthalene-1-sulfonamide), HL2 (N-(5-ethylthio)-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide), HL3 (N-(5-ethyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)benzenesulfonamide) and HL4 (N-(5-ethyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)-4-methylbenzenesulfonamide) have been synthesized and characterized. In the four complexes each copper atom is five-coordinated. The structure of complexes 1, 2 and 3 consists of a dimeric unit with a C2 symmetry axis, where both coppers are bridged by two hydroxo anions. Magnetic measurements show that the dimer complexes are ferromagnetic according to the Cu–O–Cu angles. Cleavage experiments using pUC18 plasmid DNA in the presence of H₂O₂/ascorbic acid as an activating agent show that the title complexes are potent artificial chemical nucleases, the order of efficiency being 3 > 2 ∼ 1 > 4. Control cleavage experiments indicated that the dimer complexes are stronger artificial nucleases than the [Cu(phen)₂]²⁺ complex under the same experimental conditions, while the monomer 4 has a lower nuclease activity than the [Cu(phen)₂]²⁺ complex. The inhibition of the cleavage process in the presence of reactive oxygen intermediate scavengers suggests that the hydroxyl radical and the superoxide anion are reactive species for the breakage of the DNA strands.