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Updated: Apr 14, 2026
Amide Coupling Reaction for the Synthesis of Bispyridine-based Ligands and Their Complexation to Platinum as Dinuclear Anticancer Agents
Published on: May 28, 2014
Synthesis of four binuclear copper(II) complexes: Structure, anticancer properties and anticancer mechanism
Jinxu Qi1, Shichu Liang2, Yi Gou3
1Key Laboratory of Ecology of Rare an Endangered Species and Environmental Protection, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, Guangxi, China; State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Guanxi Normal University, Guilin, Guangxi, China.
Abstract:
Copper (Cu) compounds are a promising candidate for next generation metal anticancer drugs and have been extensively studied. Therefore, four binuclear copper(II) compounds derived from Schiff base thiosemicarbazones (L1-L4), namely [CuCl(L1)]2 (C1), [CuNO3(L2)]2 (C2), [Cu(NCS) (L3)]2 (C3) and [Cu(CH3COO) (L4)]2 (C4) were synthesized and characterized. Four of these compounds showed very high cytotoxicity to cancer cell lines in vitro. These Cu(II) compounds strongly promoted the apoptosis of BEL-7404 cells. The formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), change in mitochondrial membrane potential and western blot analysis revealed that Cu compounds could induce cancer cell apoptosis through the intrinsic ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway accompanied by the regulation of Bcl-2 family proteins.
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