Multispectroscopic DNA interaction studies of a water soluble nickel (II) complex containing different dinitrogen aromatic ligands

Abstract

The water-soluble Ni(II) complex, [Ni(bipy)2(phen-dione)](OAc)2·2H2O (bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine and phen-dione = 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione) has been synthesized and characterized by physico-chemical and spectroscopic methods. The binding interactions of this complex with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) were investigated using fluorimetry, spectrophotometry, circular dichroism and viscosimetry. In fluorimetric studies, the enthalpy and entropy of the reaction between the complex and CT-DNA showed that the reaction is exothermic (ΔH = −123.9 kJ mol−1; ΔS = −323.5 J mol−1 K−1). The competitive binding studies showed that the complex could not release methylene blue completely. The complex showed absorption hyperchromism in its UV–Vis spectrum with DNA. The calculated binding constant, K b obtained from UV–Vis absorption studies was 2 × 105 M−1. Moreover, the complex induced detectable changes in the CD spectrum of CT-DNA, as well as changes in its viscosity. The results suggest that this nickel(II) complex interact with CT-DNA via a groove-binding mode.