Design of copper DNA intercalators with leishmanicidal activity

Synthesis, characterization, DNA interaction studies, and biological evaluation of copper(II) hybrids containing azole drugs and intercalating ligands against neglected diseases

In an attempt to treat neglected diseases such as leishmaniasis and fungal infections, three novel copper(II) hybrid have been developed: [Cu(dppz)(CTZ)(NO3)](NO3) (1), [Cu(dppz)(KTZ)(H2O)(NO3)](NO3) (2), and [Cu(dppz)(FLZ)(NO3)]2(NO3)2 (3). They were synthesized by coordinating antifungal imidazole based drugs and dipyridophenazine as ligands to copper(II) under mild conditions and in good yields. These coordination compounds were characterized by various analytical and spectroscopic techniques which confirmed the coordination of both ligands to the metal, and the monodentate (1) or bidentate (2 and 3) coordination of the nitrate and as counterion. These copper hybrids were stable in solid state, in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and the DMSO-water mixture. DNA interactions were studied using absorption and fluorescence titrations, viscosity measurements, and electrophoresis assays. Complexes 1 and 2 formed strong interaction with DNA. The activity against Leishmania was the highest with complex 3, unlike against Sporothrix brasiliensis, where the free imidazole-based drugs (ITZ and KTZ) performed better.

Signaling Mechanism of Cuproptosis Activating cGAS-STING Immune Pathway

Copper-mediated programmed cell death, which influences the regulation of tumor progression, is an effective approach for antitumor molecular therapy. Unlike apoptosis, copper complex-induced cuproptosis by lipid-acylated protein aggregation triggers the mitochondrial proteotoxic stress response, which could be associated with immunomodulation. However, it remains a great challenge to understand the distinctive molecular mechanisms that presumably activate immunity by cuproptosis. Here, the new nonlabeling fluorescent molecular tools of Cu-DPPZ-Py+ and Cu-DPPZ-Ph are synthesized and used to investigate the differential immune signaling mechanisms induced by copper-mediated cuproptosis or apoptosis. With Cu-DPPZ-Py+ and Cu-Elesclomol, there is strong evidence that the triggering cuproptosis significantly drives mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) release to activate innate immunity via cyclic GMP-AMP synthase-stimulation of interferon genes (cGAS-STING), which can improve T cell antitumor immunity in vivo. By contrast, it is observed that Cu-DPPZ-Ph treated tumor cells could release intracellular caspase-3, resulting in apoptosis-associated immunosuppression. This study supports insights into how cuproptosis bridges cGAS-STING immune pathways, contributing to the development of cuproptosis-based antitumor immunotherapy.

Silver(I) complexes containing N-heterocyclic carbene azole drugs: Synthesis, characterization, cytotoxic activity, and their BSA interactions

Cancer is one of the main public health problems globally, there is a public demand for better drugs. Rational strategies or approaches are used to improve the success of drug discovery. Our strategy was to the repurposing of well-known antifungal agents as potential anticancer drugs, such as Clotrimazole (CTZ) and Ketoconazole (KTZ). We prepared the respective iodide imidazolium salt L1: (CTZ-Me)I and L2: (KTZ-Me)I to be the intermediates toward the synthesis of its respective NHC ligand and achieve the respective silver(I)-monoNHC and silver(I)-bisNHC derivatives: [Ag(L1)I] (1), [AgI(L2)] (2) [Ag(L1)2]I. (3), [Ag(L2)2]I. (4), as well as their corresponding coordination compounds [Ag(CTZ)2]NO3 (5) and [Ag(KTZ)2]NO3 (6) where these ligands (CTZ and KTZ) coordinate to silver through the N-imidazole atom. These compounds (L1, L2 and complexes 1-6) exhibited significant activity against the tested cancer cell lines (B16-F1, murine melanoma strains and CT26WT, murine colon carcinoma). The silver(I) complexes were more active than the free ligands, complexes 2 and 4 being the most selective in B16-F1 cancer cell line. Two possibles biological targets such as DNA and albumin were examined for the observed anticancer activity. Results show that DNA is not the main target, however, the interactions with albumin suggest it can transport/delivery the metal complexes.

Synthesis, structural characterization, thermal analysis, DFT, biocidal evaluation and molecular docking studies of amide-based Co(II) complexes

Abstract

Many distinct amino acid and aromatic amine-derived transition metal complexes are used as physiologically active compounds. A few Cobalt (II) complexes have been synthesized by reacting cobalt (II) chloride with 1, 8-diaminonapthalene-based tetraamide macrocyclic ligands in an ethanolic media. These synthesized ligands (TAML1-3) and associated Co(II) complexes were fully characterized with various spectroscopic techniques, such as IR, NMR, CHN analysis, EPR, molar conductance, and magnetic susceptibility measurements, TGA, UV-visible spectra, powder X-ray diffraction and DFT analysis. The IR spectra reveal interactions between the core metal atom and ligands through N of 1, 8-diaminonapthalene. The distorted octahedral geometry of synthesized Co(II) macrocyclic complexes were confirmed by ESR, UV-Vis and DFT studies. The synthesized ligands (TAML1-TAML3) and their Co(II) complexes were tested for antimicrobial activity against A. niger, C. albicans, and F. oxysporum in addition to bacteria like S. aureus, B. subtilis, and Gram-negative bacteria like E. coli. The ligand TAML1 and complex [Co(TAML1)Cl2] showed an excellent antibacterial activity. The minimum inhibitory concentration of TAML1 and [Co(TAML1)Cl2] against S. aureus were found to be 7 mm and 10 mm zone of inhibition at 500 ppm, respectively, compared to drug ampicillin (3 mm). Additionally, each molecule exhibited notable antioxidant activity. The biological significance of the synthesized compounds was then evaluated by molecular docking experiments with the active site of the receptor protein such as Sars-Cov-2, C. Albicans, X. campestris and E. coli. The molecular docking assisted data strongly correlated to the experimental approach of antimicrobial activity.

Graphical Abstract

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11696-023-02843-y.

Effects of Substituents on the Photophysical/Photobiological Properties of Mono-Substituted Corroles

The trans-A₂B-corrole series was prepared starting with 5-(pentafluorophenyl)dipyrromethene, which was then reacted with respective aryl-substituted aldehyde by Gryko synthesis. It was further characterized by HRMS and electrochemical methods. In addition, we investigated experimental photophysical properties (absorption, emission by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence) in several solvents and TDDFT calculations, aggregation, photostability and reactive oxygen species generation (ROS), which are relevant when selecting photosensitizers used in photodynamic therapy and many other photo-applications. In addition, we also evaluated the biomolecule-binding properties with CT-DNA and HSA by spectroscopy, viscometry and molecular docking calculations assays.

Synthesis, characterization, antioxidant, antileishmanial, anticancer, DNA and theoretical SARS-CoV-2 interaction studies of copper(II) carboxylate complexes

Copper(II) carboxylate complexes [Cu2(OOCR)4L2] (1) and [Cu2(OOCR`)4OCO(R`)CuL2]n (2), where L = 2-methyl pyridine, R = 2-chlorophenyl acetate and R` = 2-fluorophenyl acetate were synthesized and characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray analysis. Complex 1 exhibits the typical paddlewheel array of a dinuclear copper(II) complex with carboxylate ligands. In complex 2, this scaffold is further extended into a polymeric arrangement based on alternate paddlewheel and square planar moieties with distinct coordination spheres. The complexes showed better 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities and have been found to be more potent antileishmanial agents than their corresponding free ligand acid species. UV-Vis absorption titrations revealed good DNA binding abilities {Kb = 9.8 × 104 M-1 (1) and 9.9 × 104 M-1 (2)} implying partial intercalation of the complexes into DNA base pairs along with groove binding. The complexes displayed in vitro cytotoxic activity against malignant glioma U-87 (MG U87) cell lines. Computational docking studies further support complex-DNA binding by intercalation. Molecular docking investigations revealed probable interactions of the complexes with spike protein, the nucleocapsid protein of SARS-CoV-2 and with the angiotensin converting enzyme of human cells.

Probing the interaction of new and biologically active Pd(II) complex with DNA/BSA via joint experimental and computational studies along with thermodynamic, NLO, FMO and NBO analysis

Treatment with transition metal complexes is an efficient method to fight with cancer. Therefore, a new transition metal complex formulated as [Pd(1, 3-pn)(acac)]Cl (pn and acac stand for propylendiamine and acetylacetonate, respectively) was synthesized and analyzed using ¹H NMR, Fourier transform infrared, electronic absorption spectroscopy techniques as well as elemental analysis and conductivity measurement. The geometry optimization, frontier molecular orbital (FMO) analysis, molecular electrostatic potential (MEP), natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis and nonlinear optical (NLO) property were accomplished by density functional theory (DFT) at B3LYP level with 6-311G(d,p)/aug-cc-pVTZ-PP basis set. Preliminary determination of antitumor activity and lipophilicity of this metal complex was performed experimentally and the promising results were obtained. This encouraged us to study the interaction and binding mode/modes of this complex with DNA as the primary receptor for the chemotropic drugs and BSA as the transporter protein in the circulatory system. For this reason, the binding of newly made complex was assessed in-vitro under physiological state using experimental and in-silico molecular modeling studies. So, the CT-DNA binding study of this complex was explored using spectrofluorometric as well as spectrophotometric techniques, viscosity and gel electrophoresis experiments. Furthermore, fluorescence, UV-Vis, F[Formula: see text]rster resonance energy transfer and circular dichroism studies were carried out for BSA binding. The experimental and computational interaction studies showed that [Pd(1, 3-pn)(acac)]Cl complex binds to the minor groove of CT-DNA and interacts with BSA by van der Waals forces and hydrogen bond.

Metallodrugs for the Treatment of Trypanosomatid Diseases: Recent Advances and New Insights

Trypanosomatid parasites are responsible for many Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). NTDs are a group of illnesses that prevail in low-income populations, such as in tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The three major human diseases caused by trypanosomatids are African trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis. There are known drugs for the treatment of these diseases that are used extensively and are affordable; however, the use of these medicines is limited by several drawbacks such as the development of chemo-resistance, side effects such as cardiotoxicity, low selectivity, and others. Therefore, there is a need to develop new chemotherapeutic against these tropical parasitic diseases. Metal-based drugs against NTDs have been discussed over the years as alternative ways to overcome the difficulties presented by approved antiparasitic agents. The study of late transition metal-based drugs as chemotherapeutics is an exciting research field in chemistry, biology, and medicine due to the ability to develop multitarget antiparasitic agents. The evaluation of the late transition metal complexes for the treatment of trypanosomatid diseases is provided here, as well as some insights about their mechanism of action.

Zinc(II) Terpyridine Complexes: Substituent Effect on Photoluminescence, Antiproliferative Activity, and DNA Interaction

A series of ZnCl₂ complexes (compounds 1–10) with 4′-(substituted-phenyl)-2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine that bears hydrogen (L¹), p-methyl (L²), p-methoxy (L³), p-phenyl (L⁴), p-tolyl (L⁵), p-hydroxyl (L⁶), m-hydroxyl (L⁷), o-hydroxyl (L⁸), p-carboxyl (L⁹), or p-methylsulfonyl (L¹⁰) were prepared and then characterized by ¹H NMR, electrospray mass-spectra (ESI-MS), IR, elemental analysis, and single crystal X-ray diffraction. In vitro cytotoxicity assay was used to monitor the antiproliferative activities against tumor cells. Absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence titration, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and molecular modeling studied the DNA interactions. All of the compounds display interesting photoluminescent properties and different maximal emission peaks due to the difference of the substituent groups. The cell viability studies indicate that the compounds have excellent antiproliferative activity against four human carcinoma cell lines, A549, Bel-7402, MCF-7, and Eca-109, with the lowest IC₅₀ values of 0.33 (10), 0.66 (6), 0.37 (7), and 1.05 (7) μM, respectively. The spectrophotometric results reveal that the compounds have strong affinity binding with DNA as intercalator and induce DNA conformational transition. Molecular docking studies indicate that the binding is contributed by the π…π stacking and hydrogen bonds, providing an order of nucleotide sequence binding selectivity as ATGC > ATAT > GCGC. These compounds intercalate into the base pairs of the DNA of the tumor cells to affect their replication and transcription, and the process is supposed to play an important role in the anticancer mechanism.

Design of DNA-intercalators based copper(II) complexes, investigation of their potential anti-cancer activity and sub-chronic toxicity

In the present paper, we synthesized and characterized four N-donor polypyridyl copper(II) complexes (C1-C4); [Cu(mono-CN-PIP)₂]²⁺ (C1), [Cu(tri-OMe-PIP)₂]²⁺ (C2), [Cu(di-CF₃-PIP)₂]²⁺ (C3) and [Cu(DPPZ)₂]²⁺ (C4). The (Calf-Thymus) CT-DNA binding studies depicted that the complexes could interact with DNA via intercalative mode. All the complexes, particularly C3 and C4 attenuated the proliferation as well as migration of various cancer cells, indicating their anti-cancer and anti-metastatic activity. Additionally, chick embryo angiogenesis (CEA) assay exhibited the inhibition of vascular sprouting in presence of C3 and C4, suggesting their potential in inhibiting the blood vessel growth. Mechanistic studies revealed that the complexes induced the excessive production of cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) leading to apoptosis through up regulation of p53 and downregulation of Bcl-xL, which might be the plausible mechanisms underlying their anti-cancer properties. To understand the feasibility of practical application of anti-cancer copper complexes C3 and C4, in vivo sub-chronic toxicity study (4 weeks) was performed in C57BL6 mice and the results exhibited almost non-toxic effects induced by these complexes in terms of haematology and serum biochemical analyses, suggesting their biocompatible nature. The current study provides the basis for future advancement of other novel biocompatible metal complexes that could be employed for the therapy of different cancers.

Imidazo-Phenanthroline Ligands as a Convenient Modular Platform for the Preparation of Heteroleptic Cu(I) Photosensitizers

The capture and storage of solar energy is a promising option to overcome current energy issues. To put such systems into practice, molecular photosensitizers should be based on abundant metals and possess a strong absorption capability for visible light. Therefore, a systematic series of four novel heteroleptic Cu(I) complexes of the type [(P^P)Cu(N^N)]+ (with P^P = xantphos and N^N = different diimine ligands) has been prepared. As an essential feature, these copper photosensitizers contain an imidazole moiety at the backbone of the diimine ligand, which increases the aromatic π-system compared to phenanthroline type ligands. Moreover, 2-(4-bromophenyl)-1-phenyl-1H-imidazo-[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline was used as a starting point and modular platform for gradually extended diimine ligands. Suzuki cross-coupling was applied to introduce different kind of substituents in the back of this ligand. Afterwards, a combination of NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, X-ray analysis, cyclic voltammetry, UV/vis and emission spectroscopy was used to investigate the structural, electrochemical and photophysical properties of these compounds. As a result, a reversible reduction, strongly increased extinction coefficients and significantly redshifted absorption maxima (>20 nm) were found compared to traditional Cu(I) photosensitizers without an imidazo moiety. Moreover, these compounds show a bright emission in the solid state.

Synthesis, characterization, and antileishmanial activity of neutral N-heterocyclic carbenes gold(I) complexes

A series of five new mononuclear neutral gold(I) complexes containing N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) was synthesized and fully characterized by spectroscopic methods. The X-ray structures of four complexes are presented. These gold(I) complexes together with four other neutral gold(I)-NHC complexes previously described were evaluated in vitro against Leishmania infantum promastigotes and axenic amastigotes. Moreover, their cytotoxicity was assessed on the murine macrophages J774A.1. Except one complex (10), eight gold(I)-NHC-Cl complexes show potent activity against the pathological relevant form of L. infantum amastigote with IC₅₀ in the low micromolar and submicromolar range and five of them exhibit a SI close to 10. The lead-complex 11 displays a very high and selective activity (IC₅₀ = 190 nM, SI = 40.29) and constitutes the best promising gold(I)-based drug of this series.

Strategies for overcoming tropical disease by ruthenium complexes with purine analog: Application against Leishmania spp. and Trypanosoma cruzi

Tropical diseases currently constitute a major health problem and thus a challenge in the field of drug discovery. The current treatments show serious disadvantages due to cost, toxicity, long therapy duration and resistance, and the use of metal complexes as chemotherapeutic agents against these ailments appears to be a very attractive alternative. Herein, we describe three newly synthesized ruthenium complexes with a bioactive molecule, the purine analogue 5,6,7-trimethyl-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine (tmtp): cis,fac-[RuCl₂(dmso)₃(tmtp)] (1), mer-[RuCl₃(dmso)(H₂O)(tmtp)]·2H₂O (2) and fac,cis-[RuCl₃(H₂O)(tmtp)₂] (3). Their structures were characterized using X-ray and spectroscopic methods (IR, NMR or EPR). The stability of the synthesized complexes 1-3 in various buffered solutions (pH=3-7.4) was monitored using conventional and stopped-flow techniques. The in vitro antiproliferative activity of all ruthenium complexes against promastigote forms of Leishmania spp. (L. infantum, L. braziliensis, and L. donovani) and epimastigote forms of Trypanosoma cruzi was investigated. Notably, the results showed that the activity of 1 against L. brasiliensis was more than three-fold higher than that of glucantime, and 1 showed no appreciable toxicity towards J774.2 macrophages. Additionally, 2 displayed even 141-fold lower toxicity against host cells than glucantime, demonstrating significantly higher selectivity than the reference drug. Therefore, 1 and 2 appear to be excellent candidates for further development as potential drugs for the effective treatment of leishmaniasis and Chagas disease. All novel complexes were also shown to be potent inhibitors of Fe-SOD in the studied species, while their effects on human CuZn-SOD were very low.

Photodynamic effect of light-harvesting, long-lived triplet excited state Ruthenium(II)-polyimine-coumarin complexes: DNA binding, photocleavage and anticancer studies

Two coumarin based Ru^II-polyimine complexes (Ru-1 and Ru-2) showing intense absorption of visible light and long-lived triplet excited states (~12-15μs) were used for study of the interaction with DNA. The binding of the complexes with CT-DNA were studied by UV-vis, fluorescence and time-resolved nanosecond transient absorption (ns-TA) spectroscopy. The results suggesting that the complexes interact with CT-DNA by intercalation mode of binding, showing the binding constants (K_b) 6.47×10⁴ for Ru-1 and 5.94×10⁴ M^-1 for Ru-2, in contrast no such results were found for Ru-0. The nanosecond transient absorption spectra of these systems in the presence of CT-DNA showing a clear perturbation in the bleaching region was observed compare to buffer alone. Visible light photoirradiation DNA cleavage was investigated for these complexes by treating with the supercoiled pUC19 DNA and irradiated at 450nm. The reactive species produced upon irradiation of current agents is singlet oxygen (¹O₂), which results in the generation of other reactive oxygen species (ROS). The complexes shown efficient cleavage activity, converted complete supercoiled DNA to nicked circular at as low as 20μM concentration in 30min of light irradiation time. Significant amount of linear form was generated by Ru-1 at the same conditions. Even though Ru-0 has significant ¹O₂ quantum yield but shown lower cleavage activity compared to other two analogs is due the miserable interaction (binding) with DNA. The cytotoxicity in vitro of the complexes toward HeLa, BEL-7402 and MG-63 cells was assessed by MTT assay. The cellular uptake was observed on BEL-7402 cells under fluorescence microscope. The complexes shown appreciable cytotoxicity towards the cancer cell lines.

Synthesis, characterization, DNA interactions, DNA cleavage, radical scavenging activity, antibacterial, anti-proliferative and docking studies of new transition metal complexes

The compound N-(2-hydroxybenzylidene)-1-ethyl-1, 4-dihydro-7-methyl-4-oxo-1, 8 naphthyridine-3-carbohydrazide (LH) and its Cu (II), Co (II) and Zn (II) complexes were synthesized and characterized. The absorption spectral titrations and competitive DNA binding studies depicted those complexes of title compound bind to CT-DNA through intercalation. Interestingly [Cu (II)-(L2)] showed relatively high binding constant value (6.61 x 10(5) M(-1)) compared to [Co (II)-(L2)] (4.378× 10(5) M(-1)) and [Zn (II)-(L2)] (3.1x10(5) M(-1)). Ligand and its complexes were also examined for DNA nuclease activity against pBR-322 plasmid DNA, which showed that [Cu (II)-(L2)] had the best hydrolytic cleavage property displaying prominent double-strand DNA cleavage. In addition, antioxidant activities of the ligand and its metal complexes investigated through scavenging effects for DPPH radical in- vitro, indicated their potentiality as good antioxidants. The in vitro anti-bacterial study inferred the better anti-bacterial activity of [Cu (II)-(L2)] and this was also correlated theoretically by employing docking studies wherein [Cu (II)-(L2)] displayed good Gold score and Chem score. Finally the in vitro anti- proliferative activity of studied compounds was tested against HeLa and MCF-7 cell lines. Interestingly [Cu (II)-(L2)] displayed lower IC50 value and lower percentage of viability in both HeLa and MCF-7 cell lines.

Binding of copper(II) polypyridyl complexes to DNA and consequences for DNA-based asymmetric catalysis

The interaction between salmon testes DNA (st-DNA) and a series of Cu(II) polypyridyl complexes, i.e. [Cu(dmbpy)(NO3)2] (1) (dmbpy = 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine), [Cu(bpy)(NO3)2] (2) (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine), [Cu(phen)(NO3)2] (3) (phen = phenanthroline), [Cu(terpy)(NO3)2]·H2O (4) (terpy = 2,2':6',2″-terpyridine), [Cu(dpq)(NO3)2] (5) (dpq = dipyrido-[3,2-d:2',3'-f]-quinoxaline) and [Cu(dppz)(NO3)2] (6) (dppz = dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine) was studied by UV/Vis absorption, Circular Dichroism, Linear Dichroism, EPR, Raman and (UV and vis) resonance Raman spectroscopies and viscometry. These complexes catalyse enantioselective C-C bond forming reactions in water with DNA as the source of chirality. Complex 1 crystallizes as an inorganic polymer with nitrate ligands bridging the copper ions, which adopt essentially a distorted square pyramidal structure with a fifth bridging nitrate ligand at the axial position. Raman spectroscopy indicates that in solution the nitrate ligands in 1, 2, 3 and 4 are displaced by solvent (H2O). For complex 1, multiple supramolecular species are observed in the presence of st-DNA in contrast to the other complexes, which appear to interact relatively uniformly as a single species predominantly, when st-DNA is present. Overall the data suggest that complexes 1 and 2 engage primarily through groove binding with st-DNA while 5 and 6 undergo intercalation. For complexes 3 and 4 the data indicates that both groove binding and intercalation takes place, albeit primarily intercalation. Although it is tempting to conclude that the groove binders give highest ee and rate acceleration, it is proposed that the flexibility and dynamics in binding of Cu(II) complexes to DNA are key parameters that determine the outcome of the reaction. These findings provide insight into the complex supramolecular structure of these DNA-based catalysts.

A Study on Spectro-Analytical Aspects, DNA - Interaction, Photo-Cleavage, Radical Scavenging, Cytotoxic Activities, Antibacterial and Docking Properties of 3 - (1 - (6 - methoxybenzo [d] thiazol - 2 - ylimino) ethyl) - 6 - methyl - 3H - pyran - 2, 4 - dione and its Metal Complexes

The focus of the present work is on the design, synthesis, characterization, DNA-interaction, photo-cleavage, radical scavenging, in-vitro cytotoxicity, antimicrobial, docking and kinetic studies of Cu (II), Cd (II), Ce (IV) and Zr (IV) metal complexes of an imine derivative, 3 - (1 - (6 - methoxybenzo [d] thiazol - 2 - ylimino) ethyl) - 6 - methyl - 3H - pyran - 2, 4 - dione. The investigation of metal ligand interactions for the determination of composition of metal complexes, corresponding kinetic studies and antioxidant activity in solution was carried out by spectrophotometric methods. The synthesized metal complexes were characterized by EDX analysis, Mass, IR, (1)H-NMR, (13)C-NMR and UV-Visible spectra. DNA binding studies of metal complexes with Calf thymus (CT) DNA were carried out at room temperature by employing UV-Vis electron absorption, fluorescence emission and viscosity measurement techniques. The results revealed that these complexes interact with DNA through intercalation. The results of in vitro antibacterial studies showed the enhanced activity of chelating agent in metal chelated form and thus inferring scope for further development of new therapeutic drugs. Cell viability experiments indicated that all complexes showed significant dose dependent cytotoxicity in selected cell lines. The molecular modeling and docking studies were carried out with energy minimized structures of metal complexes to identify the receptor to metal interactions.