Copper(II) complexes of N3O tripodal ligands appended with pyrene and polyamine groups: Anti-proliferative and nuclease activities.

A series of tripodal ligands based on the 2-tert-butyl-4-R-6-phenol was synthesized, where R=aldehyde (HL1), R=putrescine-pyrene (HL2) and R=putrescine (HL3). A dinucleating ligand wherein a putrescine group connects two tripodal moieties was also prepared (H2L4). The corresponding copper complexes (1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively) were prepared and characterized. We determined the phenol's pKas in the range 2.47-3.93. The DNA binding constants were determined at 6×106, 5.5×105 and 2.7×106 for 2, 3 and 4, respectively. The complexes display a metal-centered reduction wave at Epc,red=-0.45 to -0.5V vs. saturated calomel electrode, as well as a ligand-centered oxidation wave above 0.57V at pH7. In the presence of ascorbate they promote an efficient cleavage of DNA, with for example a concentration required to cleave 50% of supercoiled DNA of 1.7μM for 2. The nuclease activity is affected by the nature of the R group: putrescine-pyrene≈bis-ligating>putrescine>aldehyde. The species responsible for strand scission is the hydroxyl radical. The cytotoxicity of the complexes was evaluated on bladder cancer cell lines sensitive or resistant to cis-platin. The IC50 of complexes 2 and 4 span over a short range (1.3-2μM) for the two cell lines. They are lower than those of the other complexes (3.1-9.7μM) and cis-platin. The most active compounds block the cell cycle at the G0/1 phase and promote apoptosis.