skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Attention:

The NSF Public Access Repository (PAR) system and access will be unavailable from 11:00 PM ET on Thursday, December 11 until 2:00 AM ET on Friday, December 12 due to maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience.


This content will become publicly available on June 1, 2026

Title: Synthesis, Reductive Reactivity and Anticancer Activity of Cobalt(III)– and Manganese(III)–Salen Complexes
Mn(III)– and Co(III)–salen complexes (Mn-1 and Co-2) have been synthesized by a simple one-pot procedure through oxidation of Mn(II) and Co(II) precursors in air. X-ray structural analysis reveals that both complexes adopt similar coordination modes, including a typical square planar metal/salen coordination sphere, which is further occupied by two axial ligands, i.e., an acetate anion and a water molecule. Despite their structural similarity, they are not isomorphous given their distinct cell parameters. In the solid-state structures, both complexes exist as hydrogen-bonded dimers through hydrogen bonding interactions between the axially coordinating water molecules and outer O4 cavity from another molecule of the complex. The reductive activity of both complexes has been explored. While the reaction of Mn-1 with potassium triethylborohydride was unsuccessful, leading to a complicated mixture, the use of Co-2 furnished the formation of a novel product (CoK-3) that was isolated as red crystals in reasonable yield. CoK-3 was characterized as a heterometallic dimer involving the coordination of a K+ ion within the O4 cavity of a semi-hydrogenated salen/cobalt complex while the cobalt center has been reduced from Co(III) to Co(II). In addition, an attempt at reducing Co-2 with pinacolborane resulted in the isolation of crystals of Co-4, whose structure was determined as a simple square planar CoII–salen complex. Finally, three complexes (Mn-1, Co-2 and CoK-3) have been investigated for their cytotoxic activities against two human breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB 468) and a normal breast epitheliel cell line (MCF-10A), with cisplatin used as a reference in order to discover potential drug candidates that may compete with cisplatin. The results reveal that Co-2 can be a promising drug candidate, specifically for the MCF-7 cancer cells, with minimal damage to healthy cells.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2247728 1900500
PAR ID:
10592686
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
MDPI
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Chemistry
Volume:
7
Issue:
3
ISSN:
2624-8549
Page Range / eLocation ID:
85
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. The 3d transition metal (Mn(II), Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II)) complexes, supported by anions of sterically demanding β-diketones, 1,3-dimesitylpropane-1,3-dione (HLMes) and 1,3-bis(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-3-hydroxyprop-2-en-1-one (HLCF3), were synthesized and evaluated for their antitumor activity. To assess the biological effects of substituents on phenyl moieties, we also synthesized and investigated the analogous metal(II) complexes of the anion of the less bulky 1,3-diphenylpropane-1,3-dione (HLPh) ligand. The compounds [Cu(LCF3)2], [Cu(LMes)2] and ([Zn(LMes)2]) were characterized by X-ray crystallography. The [Cu(LCF3)2] crystallizes with an apical molecule of solvent (THF) and features a rare square pyramidal geometry at the Cu(II) center. The copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes of diketonate ligands, derived from the deprotonated 1,3-dimesitylpropane-1,3-dione (HLMes), adopt a square planar or a tetrahedral geometry at the metal, respectively. We evaluated the antitumor properties of the newly synthesized (Mn(II), Fe(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II)) complexes against a series of human tumor cell lines derived from different solid tumors. Except for iron derivatives, cellular studies revealed noteworthy antitumor properties, even towards cancer cells endowed with poor sensitivity to the reference drug cisplatin. 
    more » « less
  2. To increase the number of potential materials for application as MRI contrast agents, several Cu(II) complexes were synthesized. Cu(II) complexes were chosen because they are less expensive in comparison with the presently used Gd(III), Mn(II) and other agents. Pyridine-2-carboximidamide (1), pyrimidine-2-carboximidamide (2) and pyrazole-2-carboximidamide (3) in the form of different salts along with CuCl2 and NaCl or CuBr2 and NaBr were used to obtain four Cu(II) complexes: dichloro-pyrimidine-2-carboximidamide copper(II) (4), dibromo-pyrimidine-2-carboximidamide copper(II) (5), dichloro-pirazole-2-carboximidamide copper(II) (6), and dibromo-pirazole-2-carboximidamide copper(II) (7). X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that molecular complexes 4–7 contain square planar coordinated Cu(II) atoms and their structures are very similar, as well as their packing in crystals, which allows us to consider them isomorphs. The same synthetic approach to complex preparation where NaCl or NaBr was not used brought us to the formation of dimeric complexes μ-chloro{chloro(pyridine-2-carboximidamide)copper(II)} (8) and μ-chloro{chloro(pyrimidine-2-carboximidamide)copper(II)} (9). In the dimeric complexes, two fragments which were the same as in monomeric complexes 4–7 are held together by bridging Cu-Cl bonds making the coordination of Cu equal to 5 (square pyramid). In dimeric complexes, axial Cu-Cl bonds are 2.7360 and 2.854 Å. These values are Cu-Cl bonds on the edge of existence according to statistical data from CSD. Synthesized complexes were characterized by IR spectroscopy, TGA, PXRD, EPR, and quantum chemical calculations. The higher thermal stability of monomer pyrimidine-based complexes with Cl and Br substituents makes them more prospective for further studies. 
    more » « less
  3. Oxidation of distorted square-planar perfluoropinacolate Co compound [Co II (pin F ) 2 ] 2− , 1 , to [Co III (pin F ) 2 ] 1− , 2 , is reported. Rigidly square-planar 2 has an intermediate-spin, S = 1, ground state and very large zero-field splitting (ZFS) with D = 67.2 cm −1 ; | E | = 18.0 cm −1 , ( E / D = 0.27), g ⊥ = 2.10, g ‖ = 2.25 and χ TIP = 1950 × 10 −6 cm 3 mol −1 . This Co( iii ) species, 2 , reacts with ROS to oxidise two (pin F ) 2− ligands to form tetrahedral [Co II (Hpfa) 4 ] 2− , 3 . 
    more » « less
  4. We report on the synthesis and characterization of Mn(III) chloride (MnIIICl3) complexes coordinated with N-oxide ylide ligands, namely trimethyl-N-oxide (Me3NO) and pyridine-N-oxide (PyNO). The compounds are reactive and, while isolable in the solid-state at room temperature, readily decompose into Mn(II). For example, “[MnIIICl3(ONMe3)n]” decomposes into the 2D polymeric network compound complex salt [MnII(µ-Cl)3MnII(µ-ONMe3)]n[MnII(µ-Cl)3]n·(Me3NO·HCl)3n (4). The reaction of MnIIICl3 with PyNO forms varied Mn(III) compounds with PyNO coordination and these react with hexamethylbenzene (HMB) to form the chlorinated organic product 1-cloromethyl-2,3,4,5,6-pentamethylbenzene (8). In contrast to N-oxide coordination to Mn(III), the reaction between [MnIIICl3(OPPh3)2] and 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) resulted in electron transfer-forming d5 manganate of the [TEMPO] cation instead of TEMPO–Mn(III) adducts. The reactivity affected by N-oxide coordination is discussed through comparisons with other L–MnIIICl3 complexes within the context of reduction potential. 
    more » « less
  5. null (Ed.)
    Platinum coordination complexes have found wide applications as chemotherapeutic anticancer drugs in synchronous combination with radiation (chemoradiation) as well as precursors in focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID) for nano-scale fabrication. In both applications, low-energy electrons (LEE) play an important role with regard to the fragmentation pathways. In the former case, the high-energy radiation applied creates an abundance of reactive photo- and secondary electrons that determine the reaction paths of the respective radiation sensitizers. In the latter case, low-energy secondary electrons determine the deposition chemistry. In this contribution, we present a combined experimental and theoretical study on the role of LEE interactions in the fragmentation of the Pt(II) coordination compound cis-PtBr2(CO)2. We discuss our results in conjunction with the widely used cancer therapeutic Pt(II) coordination compound cis-Pt(NH3)2Cl2 (cisplatin) and the carbonyl analog Pt(CO)2Cl2, and we show that efficient CO loss through dissociative electron attachment dominates the reactivity of these carbonyl complexes with low-energy electrons, while halogen loss through DEA dominates the reactivity of cis-Pt(NH3)2Cl2. 
    more » « less