ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Tetracoordinate cobalt(II) complexes with neocuproine: single-molecule magnets with potential biological activity

Lukáš Smolko, Juraj Černák, Juraj Kuchár, Danica Sabolová, and Roman Boča

P.J. Šafárik University in Košice, Košice, Slovakia

E-mail: lukas.smolko@upjs.sk

Abstract: Interaction of two mononuclear tetracoordinate complexes [Co(dmphen)Br₂] and [Co(dmphen)I₂] (dmphen = 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline), which have been recently reported to behave as single-molecule magnets (SMMs) in an applied external field, with calf thymus (CT) DNA in solution was studied by spectral methods (UV–Vis, fluorescence, and circular dichroism). Results indicate that both complexes along with their chlorido analogue [Co(dmphen)Cl₂] are able to bind with the CT DNA via intercalation, with the values of Stern–Volmer constants obtained from the linear quenching plot in range of 1.86 × 10⁴–2.11 × 10⁴ M⁻¹. Furthermore, Topoisomerase I inhibition studies suggest that all three complexes exhibit inhibition activity at concentrations of 45 μM.

Keywords: Cobalt(II) complexes ; UV–Vis spectroscopy ; DNA binding ; Topoisomerase I inhibition 

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-017-0322-5

Chemical Papers 72 (4) 877–882 (2018)