Synthesis,cytotoxicity, and interaction with DNA of platinum(II) complexes of (1R,2R)-N1-2-amyl-1,2-diaminocyclohexane

(1R,2R)-N¹-2-amyl-1,2-diaminocyclohexane, which has an amyl substituent as compared with 1,2-diaminocyclohexane, was used as the carrier group to construct three platinum(II) complexes. MTT assay revealed that the complexes showed decent cytotoxicity against all of the four tested tumor cell lines with the IC₅₀ values ranging from 1.08 to 253.36 μM. Particularly, the IC₅₀ values of 2 against A549 and HCT-116 reached 3.32 and 1.08 μM, respectively, which were much lower than those of cisplatin and oxaliplatin. Flow cytometry demonstrated that 2 inhibited HepG2 cells proliferation and caused cytotoxicity by inducing apoptosis and arresting cells in the G2 phase. Furthermore, agarose gel electrophoresis showed that 2 had the ability to interact with DNA in a manner different from cisplatin and oxaliplatin, indicating the carrier ligand with an alkyl moiety had an influence on the action mode of the complex.