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Updated: May 31, 2026

Preparation and Reactivity of a Triphosphenium Bromide Salt: A Convenient and Stable Source of Phosphorus(I)
Published on: November 22, 2016
Biological activity and structure dependent properties of cuprous iodide complexes with phenanthrolines and water
Radosław Starosta1, Kamila Stokowa, Magdalena Florek
1Faculty of Chemistry, Department of Genetics, University of Wroclaw, F. Joliot-Curie 14, 50-383 Wrocław, Poland. starosta@wchuwr.pl
Abstract:
This paper presents the biological activity of copper(I) iodide complexes with 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) or 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (dmp) and three tris (aminomethyl) phosphanes: P(CH2N(CH2CH2)2NCH3)3 (1), P(CH2N(CH2CH2)2O)3 (2) and P (CH2N(CH3)CH2CH2OH)3 (3). Crystallographic and DFT data indicate a significantly stronger binding ability of 3 in the complexes [CuI (phen) P (CH2N (CH3)CH2CH2OH)3] (3P) and [CuI(dmp)P(CH2N(CH3)CH2CH2OH)3] (3N) in comparison to the 1 or 2 ligands. Most probably, this is caused by the relatively small steric requirements of 3. The complexes with dmp exhibit a very high in vitro activity against the Staphylococcus aureus strain (MIC - minimal inhibitory concentration: 2.5-5 μg/mL) and Candida albicans diploid fungus (MIC: 1.25-2.5 μg/mL). All the tested complexes also show a strong in vitro antitumor activity against human ovarian carcinoma cell lines: MDAH 2774 (IC50: 7-2 μM) and cisplatin-resistant SCOV3 (IC50: 3-2 μM). Interestingly, the complexes with dmp of higher biological activity more weakly interact with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and less efficiently cleave the pBluescriptSK+ plasmid.
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