Synthesis and crystal structure of a salen-type copper(ii) complex derived from 3,5′-O-dimethyl-2′,3′-diamino-2′,3′-dideoxy-β-d-xylo-uridine

Prospects of metal complexes peripherally substituted with sugars in biomedicinal applications

Metal complexes possess unique tunable properties, such as radioactivity, cytotoxicity or photophysical features, enabling them to act as diagnostic tracers or therapeutic agents. In applying them in biological systems, it is often necessary to enhance their solubility and biocompatibility. To achieve such goals, like the targeting of binding domains, transport systems and enzyme activities, the attachment of carbohydrate moieties appears to be suitable. Sugar-substitution in the periphery of metal complexes has therefore become a strongly growing field of research. Outlined herein is a selection of recent examples.

Synthesis and Characterization of a Tetramethyl Furanone Functionalized Diiminedioxime, A Potential Ligand for Cu Radiopharmaceuticals, and its Copper(II) and Nickel(II) Complexes

As part of our on-going effort to develop (64)Cu-based radiopharmaceuticals for PET (positron emission tomography) imaging of multidrug resistance in cancer, we prepared a tetramethylfuranone-functionalized diiminedioxime ligand, TMFPreH (TMFPreH = 4-[3-(4-Hydroxyimino-2,2,5,5-dimethyl-dihydro-furan-3-ylideneamino)-propylimino]-2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-dihydro-furan-3-one oxime) and its Cu(II) and Ni(II) complexes. When the copper(II) complex was prepared from Cu(ClO(4))(2) in ethanol, it was isolated as a Cu(II)-bridged dimer, but when it was prepared from Cu(OAc)(2) and heated in acetone, an unusual example of an acetone adduct of the ligand is formed by reduction of one of the imine double bonds by the solvent. The Ni(II) complex is square pyramidal with the perchlorate counterion at the apex.

The first salen-type ligands derived from 3',5'-diamino-3',5'-dideoxythymidine and -dideoxyxylothymidine and their corresponding copper(II) complexes

Background

There are many nucleoside metal complexes known. According to observations made, only very few of them reveal their central ion to be co-ordinated by the sugar part of their molecules. The regio- and stereospecific exchange of the hydroxyl groups at the sugar moiety by chelating units improves its complexation ability and should give access to a new class of chiral ligands.

Results

In this paper we present the synthesis of 3',5'-diamino substituted thymidines with ribo- as well as xylo-configuration and the preparation of copper(II) complexes derived from their corresponding Schiff bases. Starting from thymidine, the amino derivatives were prepared in a three and four step reaction sequence respectively. The absolute configuration of the ligands was proved by the three-bond ¹H-¹H spin spin coupling constants ³J obtained by NMR-studies. Condensation of the amino derivatives with salicylic aldehydes resulted in the corresponding diimines, which represent a new class of chiral salen-type ligands. All ligands formed uncharged stable copper(II) complexes. The structure of 3',5'-bis(3,5-di-tert-butylsalicylaldiminato)-3',5'-dideoxyxylothymidine-copper(II) could be determined by single crystal X-ray structure analysis. The copper centre in this complex has distorted tetrahedral coordination geometry.

Conclusion

For the synthesis of 3',5'-diamino-3',5'-dideoxy thymidines with xylo- as well as ribo-configuration an effective synthesis pathway has been developed. Their corresponding salicylidene imines form stable coordination compounds with copper(II) ions. They represent the first salen type complexes of nucleosides with this substitution pattern.