The Synthesis and Biological Reactivity of Copper(ii) and Nickel(ii) Dimeric Metallo-Organic Complexes

Metal complexes have gained significant attention in recent years due to their potential as chemotherapeutics. Research in the Tyler and Connelly Labs has been focused on determining the bioactivity of synthesized dinuclear copper and nickel complexes. Specifically, schiff base-containing ligands were reacted with different Cu(II) and Ni(II) salts resulting in the formation of four new dinuclear complexes that were fully characterized by UV/Vis and IR spectroscopies, as well as X-ray crystallography. The biological activity, including DNA binding and cleavage, was investigated for the four complexes. Both the Cu(II) and Ni(II) complexes showed direct DNA binding through ethidium bromide displacement assays; however, under the experimental conditions, only the Cu(II) complexes exhibited DNA cleavage in an in vitro gel-based assay. This indicates the Cu(II) complexes act as artificial metallonucleases while the Ni(II) complexes do not. Mechanistic studies indicated that reactive oxygen species play a key role in the observed DNA cleavage activity. The overall results of the biological studies with these complexes will be presented and compared in an effort to better understand how the metal center influences the biological activity.