DNA and BSA binding, anticancer and antimicrobial properties of Co(ii), Co(ii/iii), Cu(ii) and Ag(i) complexes of arylhydrazones of barbituric acid

Abstract

Two new cocrystalline compounds, (Hen)(H₂L²)·2/3H₂O (2) and (Him)(H₃L³)·2H₂O (8), were prepared by the reaction of 5-(2-(4-chlorophenyl)hydrazono)pyrimidine-2,4,6(1H,3H,5H)-trione (H₃L²) and the sodium salt of 2-(2-(2,4,6-trioxotetrahydropyrimidin-5(2H)-ylidene)hydrazinyl)benzenesulfonic acid (H₄L³), [Na(H₃L³)(μ-H₂O)(H₂O)₂]₂ (1) with protonated ethylenediamine (Hen) and imidazole (Him), respectively. By using 5-(2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)hydrazono)pyrimidine-2,4,6(1H,3H,5H)-trione (H₄L¹) and 1, several known Cu^II, Co^II, Co^II/III and new Ag^I complexes, [Cu(H₂L¹)(H₂O)(im)]·3H₂O (3), [Co(H₂O)₆][Co(H₂L¹)₂]₂·8H₂O (4), [Co(H₂L³)(im)₃] (5), [Cu(H₂L³)(im)₂]·H₂O (6), [Ag(H₂O)(μ-H₃L³)]_n (7) and [Co(H₂O)₆][H₃L³]₂·8H₂O (9), were also prepared in order to study their DNA and BSA binding, anticancer and antimicrobial properties. The complexes are able to interact with DNA and BSA with high binding constant values. In particular, complex 4 strongly intercalates DNA and binds BSA. The antimicrobial activity of all compounds, determined against a panel of reference bacterial and fungal strains, indicates that only 2 and 7 possess antimicrobial activity. The same compounds 2 and 7 show a pronounced antiproliferative activity against the human tumor cell lines A375, MDA-MB 231 and HCT116.