Synthesis and biological studies of 4', 7, 8-trihydroxy-isoflavone metal complexes.

A new series of complexes of a ligand 4', 7, 8-trihydroxy-isoflavone with transition metal (zinc, copper, manganese, nickel, cobalt) and selenium have been synthesized and characterized with the aid of elemental analysis, IR, electron ionization mass spectrum (EI-MS) and (1)H NMR spectrometric techniques. The compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial activities and antitumor properties. The metal complexes were found to be more active than the free ligand. Investigation on the interaction between the complexes and calf-thymus DNA (CT DNA) showed that the absorbance of CT DNA increased and the maximum peak (λ(max)=260 nm) red-shifted, while the intensity of fluorescence spectra of Epstein-Bart DNA (EB-DNA) gradually weakened, which indicated that all of these metal complexes tightly combined with CT DNA.