The meloxicam complexes of Co(II) and Zn(II): Synthesis, crystal structures, photocleavage and in vitro DNA-binding

Two neutral mononuclear complexes of Co(II) and Zn(II) with the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug meloxicam (H2mel, 4-hydroxy-2-methyl-N-(5-methyl-2-thiazolyl)-2H-1,2-benzothiazine-3-carboxammide-1,1-dioxide), [Co(Hmel)2(EtOH)2] (1), and [Zn(Hmel)2(EtOH)2] (2), were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR and UV–Vis spectroscopy and their solid-state structures were studied by single-crystal diffraction. The complexes have a distorted octahedral geometry around the metal atom. The experimental data indicate that the meloxicam acts as a deprotonated bidentate ligand (through the amide oxygen and the nitrogen atom of the thiazolyl ring) in the complexes, and a strong intramolecular hydrogen bond between the amide N–H function and the enolate O atom stabilizes the ZZZ conformation of meloxicam ligands. Absorption, fluorescence spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry have been used to investigate the binding of the complexes with fish sperm DNA (FS-DNA). Additionally, the photocleavage studies have been also used to investigate the binding of the complexes with plasmid DNA. The interaction of the complexes with DNA was monitored by a blue shift and hyperchromism in the UV–Vis spectra attributed to an electrostatic binding mode. A competitive study with ethidium bromide (EB) has shown that the complexes can displace the DNA-bound EB indicating that they bind to DNA in strong competition with EB. The experimental results show that the complexes can cleave pUC57 plasmid DNA.