In the title compound, C17H20ClN5O2, the benzene ring and the purine ring system make a dihedral angle of 78.56 (4)°. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by pairs of N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds, forming inversion dimers. C—H⋯O and C—H⋯Cl contacts further link the mol­ecules, forming a three-dimensional network.

In the title compound, C7H5BrN2, fused six-membered pyridine and five-membered pyrrole rings form the essentially planar aza­indole skeleton (r.m.s. deviation = 0.017 Å). In the crystal, pairs of N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds connect the mol­ecules into inversion dimers.

Background

Inspired by the unprecedented historical success of cisplatin, one of the most important research directions in bioinorganic and medicinal chemistry is dedicated to the development of new anticancer compounds with the potential to surpass it in antitumor activity, while having lower unwanted side-effects. Therefore, a series of copper(II) mixed-ligand complexes of the type [Cu(qui)(L)]Y · xH2O (1–6), where Hqui = 2-phenyl-3-hydroxy-4(1H)-quinolinone, Y = NO3 (1, 3, 5) or BF4 (2, 4, 6), and L = 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) (1, 2), 5-methyl-1,10-phenanthroline (mphen) (3, 4) and bathophenanthroline (bphen) (5, 6), was studied for their in vitro cytotoxicity against several human cancer cell lines (A549 lung carcinoma, HeLa cervix epitheloid carcinoma, G361 melanoma cells, A2780 ovarian carcinoma, A2780cis cisplatin-resistant ovarian carcinoma, LNCaP androgen-sensitive prostate adenocarcinoma and THP-1 monocytic leukemia).

Results

The tested complexes displayed a stronger cytotoxic effect against all the cancer cells as compared to cisplatin. The highest cytotoxicity was found for the complexes 4 (IC50 = 0.36 ± 0.05 μM and 0.56 ± 0.15 μM), 5 (IC50 = 0.66 ± 0.07 μM and 0.73 ± 0.08 μM) and 6 (IC50 = 0.57 ± 0.11 μM and 0.70 ± 0.20 μM) against A2780, and A2780cis respectively, as compared with the values of 12.0 ± 0.8 μM and 27.0 ± 4.6 μM determined for cisplatin. Moreover, the tested complexes were much less cytotoxic to primary human hepatocytes than to the cancer cells. The complexes 5 and 6 exhibited significantly high ability to modulate secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α (2873 ± 238 pg/mL and 3284 ± 139 pg/mL for 5, and 6 respectively) and IL-1β (1177 ± 128 pg/mL and 1087 ± 101 pg/mL for 5, and 6 respectively) tested on the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated THP-1 cells as compared with the values of 1173 ± 85 pg/mL and 118.5 ± 4.8 pg/mL found for the commercially used anti-inflammatory drug prednisone. The ability of the tested complexes to interact with sulfur-containing biomolecules (cysteine and reduced glutathione) at physiological levels was proved by electrospray-ionization mass spectrometry.

Conclusions

Overall positive results of the biological activity studies revealed that the presented complexes may represent good candidates for non-platinum anticancer drugs, however, we are aware of the fact that further and deeper studies mainly in relation to the elucidation of their mechanisms of antiproliferative action will be necessary.

Two SOD-mimic active dimeric Cu(II) chlorido complexes of the compositions [Cu2(μ-HL1)4Cl2]Cl2 (1) and [Cu2(μ-HL2)2(μ-Cl)2(HL2)2Cl2] · 4H2O (2) involving the cosmetologically relevant cytokinin kinetin (N6-furfuryladenine, HL1) and its derivative N6-(5-methylfurfuryl)adenine (HL2) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, infrared, and electronic spectroscopy, ESI+ mass spectrometry, conductivity and temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility measurements, and thermogravimetric (TG) and differential thermal (DTA) analyses. The results of these methods, particularly the temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility, showed the complexes to be dimeric with a strong antiferromagnetic exchange (J = −290 cm−1 for complex 1 and J = −160 cm−1 for 2). The complexes have been identified as auspicious SOD-mimics, as their antiradical activity evaluated by the in vitro SOD-mimic assay resulted in the IC50 values equal to 8.13 μM (1) and 0.71 μM (2).

The title compound, [Cu2(OH)2(C6H16N2)2(H2O)](BF4)2, consists of dinuclear centrosymmetric [Cu2(OH)2(tmen)2(H2O)]2+ complex cations (tmen = N,N,N′,N′-tetra­methyl­ethane-1,2-diamine) and tetra­fluoridoborate anions. In the cation, the CuII atom shows a slightly distorted square-pyramidal coordination geometry provided by a pair of μ-OH− anions and by the N atoms of a chelate tmen ligand in the basal plane. The apical position is statistically occupied by the O atom of a half-occupancy water mol­ecule. The F atoms of the anion are disordered over three sets of sites with occupancies of 0.598 (9):0.269 (6):0.134 (8). The crystal packing is governed by ionic forces as well as by O—H⋯F hydrogen bonds.

In the title compound, [Cu(C2N3)2(C12H6Cl2N2)2], the CuII atom is coordinated by two chelating 4,7-dichloro-1,10-phenanthroline (4,7-Cl-phen) ligands and two dicyanamide (dca) ligands in a cis arrangement, forming a distorted octa­hedral geometry. The equatorial plane is occupied by three N atoms from two 4,7-Cl-phen ligands and one N atom from a dca ligand at shorter Cu—N distances. Due to the Jahn–Teller effect, the axial positions are occupied by a 4,7-Cl-phen N atom and a dca N atom at longer Cu—N distances. The dca ligands are nearly planar, with a maximum deviations of 0.006 (1) Å. The crystal structure is stabilized by weak C—H⋯N hydrogen bonds, with cyanide N atoms as acceptors, and π–π inter­actions between adjacent phenyl rings [centroid–centroid distance = 3.725 (3) Å].

The structure of the title compound, [NaRuCl4(C2H6OS)2]n, comprises centrosymmetric [RuCl2(DMSO)Na(DMSO)Cl2Ru] units (DMSO is dimethyl sulfoxide, C2H6OS), with two Ru atoms, each lying on a crystallographic centre of inversion, connected via Na atoms, DMSO and chloride ligands into a two-dimensional (110) array. Both RuIII atoms are octa­hedrally coordinated by four chloride ligands in the equatorial plane and by two DMSO mol­ecules in apical positions within a RuCl4S2 donor set. The Na atom is surrounded by three chloride anions and three O atoms derived from three DMSO mol­ecules, with the resulting Cl3O3 donor set defining an octa­hedron. The crystal structure is further stabilized by inter­atomic inter­actions of the types C⋯Cl [C—Cl = 3.284 (2) Å], C—H⋯Cl [C⋯Cl = 3.903 (3) Å] and C—H⋯O [C⋯O = 3.376 (3) Å].

The title compound, C13H13N5O, consists of discrete mol­ecules connected by N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds to form infinite chains, with N⋯N separations of 3.0379 (15) and 2.8853 (15) Å. The benzene and purine ring systems make a dihedral angle of 77.58 (3)°. The crystal structure is further stabilized by intra­molecular N⋯O inter­actions [2.9541 (12) Å] and inter­molecular C—H⋯C and C⋯C contacts [3.304 (2), 3.368 (2), 3.667 (2), 3.618 (2) and 3.512 (2) Å] which arrange the mol­ecules into graphite-like layers. The inter­layer separations are 3.248 and 3.256 Å.

The asymmetric unit of the title complex salt, (C12H11ClN5)[RuCl4(NO)(C2H6OS)]·H2O, contains a 6-(2-chloro­benzyl­amino)purinium cation, a tetra­chlorido(dimethyl sulfoxide)nitro­sylruthenate(III) anion and one solvent water mol­ecule. The RuIII atom is octa­hedrally coordinated by four Cl atoms in the equatorial plane, and by a dimethyl sulfoxide O atom and a nitrosyl N atom in axial positions. The cation is an N3-protonated N7 tautomer. Inter­molecular N–H⋯N hydrogen bonds connect two cations into centrosymmetric dimers, with an N⋯N distance of 2.821 (4) Å. The crystal structure also involves N—H⋯O, N—H⋯Cl and O—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds.

The asymmetric unit of the title complex, [Cu2(C9H4O6)(C10H8N2)4](C9H4O6)·C10H8N2·13H2O, comprises two formula units. The two CuII centres are bridged by a 5-carb­oxy­benzene-1,3-dicarboxyl­ate (Hbtc) ligand. Each of the metal centres is bonded to four N atoms of two bidentate 2,2′-bipyridine ligands (bpy) and one O atom of the Hbtc ligand in a highly distorted square-pyramidal geometry. The secondary structure is stabilized by a variety of O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and π–π stacking inter­actions connecting the complex cations, Hbtc anions, bpy and water mol­ecules of crystallization. Three water molecules are disordered over two positions, with site occupancy factors of ca 0.8 and 0.2.

The title complex, [Cu(C9H7NO3)(C10H9N)(H2O)]·0.5H2O, crystallizes with two independent formula units in the asymmetric unit; the solvent mol­ecule is located on a twofold axis of symmetry. The CuII atom is coordinated by one tridentate N-salicylideneglycinate Schiff base ligand, one 4-methyl­quinoline ligand and one water mol­ecule, leading to a slightly distorted square-pyramidal N2O3 geometry. In the crystal structure, the mol­ecules are linked by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds into linear chains in the [100] direction. The structure is further stabilized by inter­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions and C⋯C contacts with C⋯C = 3.3058 (2), 3.3636 (2) and 3.3946 (2) Å.