Four novel mononuclear Schiff base copper(ii) complexes, namely, [Cu(L)(OAc)]·H2O (), [Cu(HL)(C2O4)(EtOH)]·EtOH (), [Cu(L)(Bza)] () and [Cu(L)(Sal)] () (HL = 1-(((2-((2-hydroxypropyl)amino)ethyl)imino)methyl)naphthalene-2-ol), Bza = benzoic acid, Sal = salicylic acid), were synthesized and characterized by X-ray crystallography, elemental analysis and infrared spectroscopy. Single-crystal diffraction analysis revealed that all the complexes were mononuclear molecules, in which the Schiff base ligand exhibited different coordination modes and conformations. The N-HO and O-HO inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonding interactions linked these molecules into multidimensional networks. Their interactions with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) were investigated by UV-visible and fluorescence spectrometry, as well as by viscosity measurements. The magnitude of the Kapp values of the four complexes was 10(5), indicating a moderate intercalative binding mode between the complexes and DNA. Electrophoresis results showed that all these complexes induced double strand breaks of pUC19 plasmid DNA in the presence of H2O2 through an oxidative pathway. In addition, the fluorescence spectrum of human serum albumin (HSA) with the complexes suggested that the quenching mechanism of HSA by the complexes was a static process. Moreover, the antiproliferative activity of the four complexes against HeLa (human cervical carcinoma) and HepG-2 (human liver hepatocellular carcinoma) cells evaluated by colorimetric cell proliferation assay and clonogenic assay revealed that all four complexes had improved cytotoxicity against cancer cells. Inspiringly, complex , with salicylic acid as the auxiliary ligand, displayed a stronger anticancer activity, suggesting that a synergistic effect of the Schiff base complex and the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug may be involved in the cell killing process. The biological features of mixed-ligand copper(ii) Schiff base complexes and how acetic auxiliary ligands manipulate these features are also discussed.

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Four novel copper(ii) complexes [Cu(II)(Bp4mT)(μ-Cl)]2 (), [Cu(II)(μ-Bp4mT)Br]2 (), [Cu(II)(HBpT)Cl] (), and [Cu(II)(HBpT)Br] () (Bp4mT = 2-benzoylpyridine-4-methylthiosemicarbazone, HBpT = 2-benzoylpyridine thiosemicarbazone), were synthesized and characterized using single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, infrared, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. X-ray analysis revealed that complexes and based on the Bp4mT ligand presented dimeric structures in which the Cu(ii) ions were located in a five-coordinated distorted square-pyramidal geometry, whereas both and complexes were mononuclear with the Cu(ii) ions exhibiting a tetracoordinated square planar configuration. Their interactions with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) were investigated using viscosity measurements and fluorescence spectroscopy. Multispectroscopic evidence has shown interactions between these complexes and human serum albumin (HSA). All these complexes have exhibited efficient oxidative cleavage of supercoiled DNA in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, presumably via an oxidative mechanism. Furthermore, in vitro cytotoxicity studies of against human liver hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG-2), human large cell lung carcinoma cells (NCI-H460), and human cervical carcinoma cells (HeLa) indicated their promising antitumor activity with quite low IC50 values in the range of 0.08-1.98 μM, which are 83 times lower than those of cisplatin. The mechanistic studies revealed that four complexes, which induced early apoptosis, were involved in reactive oxygen species generation and DNA cleavage for their antitumor activities.