Sulfur-substituted naphthalimides as photoactivatable anticancer agents: DNA interaction, fluorescence imaging, and phototoxic effects in cultured tumor cells

Synthesis, characterization and DNA binding studies of two cyclopentadienyl ruthenium(II) complexes with amino acid ligands

“…This is similar to a reported copper(II) complex which also contained a ligand bearing NH and OH groups, suggesting the damage of double-helical DNA [14]. These spectral results are different from those obtained for octahedral ruthenium(II) complexes which show both typical redshift and hypochromism, e.g., [Ru(bpy) 2 ] ratio larger than 2:1, the intensity of the new peak at 215 nm increased with an even broader band for DNA at 260 nm, suggesting the distribution of electrons between the ruthenium complex and the nucleobases of DNA, as also observed for sulfursubstituted naphthalimides [18]. It was reported that some ruthenium complexes can react with DNA at the N7 site of guanine with chloride substitution to form a Ru-N7 bond, e.g., [Ru(II)(g 6 -arene)(X) 2 (pta)] and [Ru(II)(g 6 -arene)X(en)] (where, X = leaving group, en = ethylenediamine, pta = 1,3,5-triaza-7-phosphaadamantane) [6], also [RuClCp(PPh 3 )(pta)] [8].…”

Ruthenium(II)-arene complexes with naphthalimide-tagged N,O- and N,N-chelating ligands: Synthesis and biological evaluation

“…As a result, 1,8-naphthalimide and its derivatives have been extensively investigated for their potential use as anticancer drugs, and two of these compounds (mitonafide, and amonafide) have reached clinical trials [32][33][34]. In addition to their broad spectrum of biological activities, 1,8-naphthalimides have also been described as strongly fluorescent agents, a property that could be useful for probing the interaction of these compounds with biomolecules [37][38][39][40].…”

The design and synthesis of a novel 1,8-naphthalimide PAMAM light-harvesting dendron with fluorescence “off-on” switching core

“…Because of their strong fluorescence and good photostability, 1,8-naphthalimide derivatives have found application in several areas, such as fluorescent dyes for polymer materials [33,34], laser active media [35,36], fluorescent markers in biology [37], anticancer agents [38] and analgesics [39] in medicine, fluorescence switchers and sensors [40,41], light emitting diodes [42,43], electroluminescent materials [44,45], liquid crystal displays [46,47] and ion probes [48].…”