Anticancer potential of n(4)substituted 5-nitroisatin thiosemicarbazones and their copper(ii) complexes

Abstract

N(4) modified copper thiosemicarbazones have been extensively studied for their anticancer potency toward various cancer cells as they exhibit less toxicity, wide spectrum of activity, non-resistance behavior and a novel mechanism of action as compared to that of platinum complexes. 5-Nitroisatin-4-thiomorpholinyl-3-thiosemicarbazone(L1), 5-nitroisatin-4, 4-dimethyl-3-thiosemicarbazone(L2), and their copper (II) complexes; CuL1 and CuL2 were prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR, NMR, ESI-HRMS, UV-Vis, TGA, PXRD (Le Bail fitting) and EPR techniques. PXRD analysis suggested that the copper (II) complexes possess a monoclinic crystal system with P1211 symmetry. The coordination of Cu(II) ion with thiosemicarbazones and one chloride ion suggests a distorted square planar geometry of complexes. All the compounds were screened against breast cancer (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231), skin cancer (A431) and normal prostate cell line (PNT2) in terms of cell viability and found that all the synthesized compounds exhibited in vitro antiproliferation toward the tested cancer cells. These complexes were found to be more effective on MDA-MB-231 than on A431 and MCF-7 cells. The molecule, CuL1 was found to show a better anticancer potency compared to CuL2 as CuL1 was found to be less toxic to normal PNT2 cell line.