Design and characterization of highly in vitro antitumor active ternary copper(II) complexes containing 2'-hydroxychalcone ligands.

A series of innovative copper(II) complexes of the general composition [Cu(L)(phen)]NO (1-8; phen=1,10-phenanthroline), involving 2'-hydroxychalcone {(E)-1-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)-3-phenylprop-2-en-1-one} derivatives (HL) was synthesized, thoroughly characterized and screened for in vitro cytotoxicity against a panel of ten human cancer cell lines. The most promising results were achieved for complex 2 with the best IC value of 1.1±0.7μM (against A2780 cell line). The toxicity testing on a primary culture of human hepatocytes (HH) revealed that complex 2 is the least toxic from the whole series with the IC value of 63.7μM. The complexes were shown to be able to efficaciously cleave pUC19 plasmid DNA as well as intercalate into calf thymus DNA with the same affinity and efficacy as ethidium bromide and interact by the ligand exchange mechanism with l-cysteine at physiological concentration levels.