Structural influences on the oxidation and anticancer activities of dicopper( ii ) complexes containing different selenium and sulfur ligands

Abstract

This paper describes the synthesis, structural analysis, and magnetic and spectroscopic characterizations of six new dicopper(II) complexes with dinucleating phenol-based ligands containing different thioether and selenoether donor substituents. The compounds appear as a cation complex [Cu2(L)(μ-SO4)]+. Temperature-dependent magnetometry reveals the presence of ferromagnetic coupling for all of the six complexes. The bioinspired catalytic activities of these complexes, related to catechol oxidase, were studied using 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol as the substrate, and those related to phenoxazinone synthase activity were studied using o-aminophenol. It was observed that the complexes containing withdrawing groups showed the highest values of catalytic efficiency (E). The complexes were cytotoxic against MDA-MB-231 (triple negative breast adenocarcinoma) and MG-63 (human osteosarcoma), surpassing the activity of the metallodrug cisplatin.