Synthesis and DNA cleavage properties of ternary Cu(II) complexes containing histamine and amino acids

The ternary complexes of [CuII(Hist)(Tyr)]+ 1 and [CuII(Hist)(Trp)]+ 2 have been synthesized, structurally characterized and their DNA binding and cleavage abilities probed. The intrinsic binding constants (Kb) for complexes/CT-DNA were also determined (Kb = 2.7 × 102 for complex 1 and Kb = 2.2 × 102 for complex 2). These complexes exhibit their nuclease activity on plasmid DNA, which seems to depend on the nature of the aromatic moiety. The DNA hydrolytic cleavage rate constants were also determined for complexes 1 and 2, which are 0.91 and 0.79 h−1, respectively.