Novel alpha-functionalized nickel(ii) phthalocyanines: photochemical, antioxidant, antibacterial, cytotoxicity studies and theoretical insights

Abstract

In this study, novel nickel(II) phthalocyanines (1a–4a) with functional groups containing different atoms such as fluorine, sulfur, and oxygen connected through oxygen bridges from their non-peripheral positions were synthesized and characterized. Singlet oxygen generation, antioxidant and antibacterial activities, and cytotoxicity of the phthalocyanines (1a–4a) were evaluated. The synthesized phthalocyanines (1a–4a) exhibited solvent-dependent singlet oxygen generation, demonstrating their potential as photosensitizers and providing useful insights into their photochemical behavior. Moderate antioxidant activity was found when compared to the previous studies. The synthesized phthalocyanines (1a–4a) showed antibacterial activity against S. aureus. Molecule (2a) showed the highest antibacterial activity with a 12 mm inhibition zone. The phthalocyanines (1a–4a) did not exhibit cytotoxic activity in the MTT assay against HEK 293 cells. In conclusion, Gaussian calculations were used to investigate the synthesis of target nickel(II) phthalocyanines (1a–4a). These computations were performed at the B3LYP, HF, and M062X levels, and the basis set utilized was 6-31++G(d,p). Proteins such as zinc superoxide dismutase protein (PDB ID: 1CB4), human peroxiredoxin 5 protein (PDB ID: 1H2D), and FabH inhibitor protein (PDB ID: 4Z8D) were among those that were subjected to molecular docking calculations.