Transition Metal Complexes with 1-Adamantoyl Hydrazones - Cytotoxic Copper(II) Complexes of Tri- and Tetradentate Pyridine Chelators Containing an Adamantane Ring System

Multidentate Phenanthroline Ligands Containing Additional Donor Moieties and Their Resulting Cu(I) and Ru(II) Photosensitizers: A Comparative Study

To bind or not to bind: Driven by the motivation to increase the (photo)stability of traditional Cu(I) photosensitizers, multidentate diimine ligands, which contain two additional donor sites, were designed. To this end, a systematic series of four 1,10-phenanthroline ligands with either OR or SR (R = ⁱPr or Ph) donor groups at the 2 and 9 positions and their resulting hetero- and homoleptic Cu(I) complexes were prepared. In addition, the related Ru(II) complexes were also synthesized to study the effect of another metal center. In the following, a combination of NMR spectroscopy and X-ray analysis was used to evaluate the impact of the additional donor moieties on the coordination behavior. Most remarkably, for the homoleptic bis(diimine)copper(I) complexes, a pentacoordinated copper center, corresponding to a (4 + 1)-fold coordination mode, was found in the solid state. This additional binding is the first indication that the extra donor might also occupy a free coordination site in the excited-state complex, modifying the nature of the excited states and their respective deactivation processes. Therefore, the electrochemical and photophysical properties of all novel complexes (in total 13) were studied in detail to assess the potential of these photosensitizers for future applications within solar energy conversion schemes. Finally, the photostabilities and a potential degradation mechanism were analyzed for representative samples.

The Coordination Behaviour of CuI Photosensitizers Bearing Multidentate Ligands Investigated by X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

A systematic series of four novel homo‐ and heteroleptic Cu^I photosensitizers based on tetradentate 1,10‐phenanthroline ligands of the type X^N^N^X containing two additional donor moieties in the 2,9‐position (X=SMe or OMe) were designed. Their solid‐state structures were assessed by X‐ray diffraction. Cyclic voltammetry, UV‐vis absorption, emission and X‐ray absorption spectroscopy were then used to determine their electrochemical, photophysical and structural features in solution. Following, time‐resolved X‐ray absorption spectroscopy in the picosecond time scale, coupled with time‐dependent density functional theory calculations, provided in‐depth information on the excited state electron configurations. For the first time, a significant shortening of the Cu−X distance and a change in the coordination mode to a pentacoordinated geometry is shown in the excited states of the two homoleptic complexes. These findings are important with respect to a precise understanding of the excited state structures and a further stabilization of this type of photosensitizers.

Synthesis, structure and bioactivity of Ni2+ and Cu2+ acylhydrazone complexes

Two acylhydrazone complexes, bis{6-methyl-N'-[1-(pyrazin-2-yl-κN¹)ethylidene]nicotinohydrazidato-κ²N',O}nickel(II), [Ni(C₁₃H₁₂N₅O)₂], (I), and di-μ-azido-κ⁴N¹:N¹-bis({6-methyl-N'-[1-(pyrazin-2-yl-κN¹)ethylidene]nicotinohydrazidato-κ²N',O}nickel(II)), [Cu₂(C₁₃H₁₂N₅O)₂(N₃)₂], (II), derived from 6-methyl-N'-[1-(pyrazin-2-yl)ethylidene]nicotinohydrazide (HL) and azide salts, have been synthesized. HL acts as an N,N',O-tridentate ligand in both complexes. Complex (I) crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pbcn and has a mononuclear structure, the azide co-ligand is not involved in crystallization and the Ni²⁺ centre lies in a distorted {N₄O₂} octahedral coordination environment. Complex (II) crystallizes in the triclinic space group P-1 and is a centrosymmetric binuclear complex with a crystallographically independent Cu²⁺ centre coordinating to three donor atoms from the deprotonated L^- ligand and to two N atoms belonging to two bridging azide anions. The two- and one-dimensional supramolecular structures are constructed by hydrogen-bonding interactions in (I) and (II), respectively. The in vitro urease inhibitory evaluation revealed that complex (II) showed a better inhibitory activity, with the IC₅₀ value being 1.32±0.4 µM. Both complexes can effectively bind to bovine serum albumin (BSA) by 1:1 binding, which was assessed via tryptophan emission-quenching measurements. The bioactivities of the two complexes towards jack bean urease were also studied by molecular docking. The effects of the metal ions and the coordination environments in the two complexes on in vitro urease inhibitory activity are preliminarily discussed.

Exploration of biological activities of alkyne arms containing Cu(ii) and Ni(ii) complexes: syntheses, crystal structures and DFT calculations

Several mononuclear Cu(ii) and Ni(ii) Schiff base (N,O-donor) complexes were synthesized and characterized. The binding ability with DNA and BSA and catecholase activity of the complexes were investigated.