Antiphytopathogenic and anticancer activity of CuII and CoII furancarboxylate complexes

Abstract

The trinuclear complex [Co₃(3-fur)₆(phen)₂] (1; 3-fur is a 3-furancarboxylate anion, phen is 1,10-phenanthroline) was obtained by the slow diffusion of a methanol solution of cobalt(ii) furoate and an acetonitrile solution of 1,10-phenanthroline. The structure of complex 1 was established by X-ray diffraction analysis. According to the X-ray diffraction data, the Co^II atoms are in a linear arrangement in the metal core and adopt an octahedral coordination environment formed by nitrogen and oxygen atoms, {CoO₄N₂} and {CoO₆}, and the phenanthroline molecules are coordinated in chelate fashion to the terminal Co^II atoms. The crystal packing of 1 is stabilized by π—π interactions between the phenanthroline aromatic system and the furan rings of the adjacent molecules. The biological activity of complexes 1 and [Cu(2-fur)₂(phen)] was evaluated in vitro against phytopathogenic gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and the model mycobacterium strain Mycolicibacterium smegmatis. The cytotoxic effects were assessed against SKOV3 human ovarian adenocarcinoma cells and HDF primary human dermal fibroblast cells.