Phosphorus-nitrogen compounds part 27. Syntheses, structural characterizations, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities, and DNA interactions of new phosphazenes bearing secondary amino and pendant (4-fluorobenzyl)spiro groups.

A number of partly (7-9) and fully (10a-12d, Scheme 1) substituted mono(4-fluorobenzyl)spiro cyclotriphosphazenes was prepared. The structures of the compounds were determined by MS, FTIR, 1D and 2D NMR techniques. The crystal structures of 9, 11b and 12b were verified by X-ray diffraction analysis. In vitro cytotoxic activity of the phosphazenes (10a-12d) against HeLa cervical cancer cell lines was evaluated. Compound 12c was found to be the most effective, as it is a cytotoxic reagent that might activate apoptosis by altering mitochondrial membrane potential. Compounds 10b, 11b and 12b showed very good activity against yeast strains Candida tropicalis and Candida albicans. BamHI and HindIII digestion results demonstrate that the compounds (10a-12a, 10b-12b, 10d-12d), and (9, 10c-12c) bind with G/G and A/A nucleotides, respectively.