Novel Bioactive Co(II), Cu(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II) Complexes with Schiff Base Ligand Derived from Histidine and 1,3-Indandione: Synthesis, Structural Elucidation, Biological Investigation and Docking Analysis

Novel bioactive complexes of Co(II), Cu(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II) metal ions with Schiff base ligand derived from histidine and 1,3-indandione were synthesized and thoroughly characterized by various analytical and spectral techniques. The biological investigations were carried out to examine the efficiency of the binding interaction of all the complexes with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA). The binding properties were studied and evaluated quantitatively by Kb and Ksq values using UV-visible, fluorescence spectroscopy and voltammetric techniques. The experimental results revealed that the mode of binding of all the complexes with CT-DNA is via intercalation. It is further verified by viscosity measurements and thermal denaturation experiments. From the results of the cleavage study with pUC19 DNA it is inferred that all the complexes possess excellent cleaving ability. The present investigation proved that the binding interaction of all the complexes are significantly strong and the order of binding strength of the complexes is [Ni(L)2] (Kb = 3.11 × 106 M−1) > [Co(L)2] (Kb = 2.89 × 106 M−1) > [Cu(L)2] (Kb = 2.64 × 106 M−1) > [Zn(L)2] (Kb = 2.41 × 105 M−1). The complexes were also screened for antibacterial and anticandidal activity. The in vitro cytotoxicity of the ligand and complexes on the NIH/3 T3 mouse fibroblast cell lines were examined using CellTiter-Blue® (CTB) Cell viability assay, which unveiled that all the complexes exhibit more potent activities against NIH/3 T3 cells. Among all the complexes [Zn(L)2] complex showed the maximum efficiency.