Fourteen different ligands have been synthesized with two covalently linked 8-hydroxyquinoline motifs that favor metal complexation. These bis-chelators include different bridges at the C2 positions and different substituents to modulate their physicochemical properties. They can form metal complexes in a ratio of one ligand per metal ion with Cu II and Zn II, two metal ions involved in the formation of amyloid aggregates of the toxic Abeta-peptides in the Alzheimer disease. The apparent affinity of all bis-8-hydroxyquinoline ligands for Cu II and Zn II are similar with logK Cu II approximately 16 and logK Zn II approximately 13 and are 10,000 times more efficient than for the corresponding 8-hydroxyquinoline monomers. Their strong chelating capacities allow them to inhibit more efficiently than the corresponding monomers the precipitation of Abeta-peptides induced by Cu II and Zn II and also to inhibit the toxic formation of H2O2 due to copper complexes of Abeta. The best results were obtained with a one-atom linker between the two quinoline units. X-ray analyses of single-crystals of Cu II, Zn II or Ni II complexes of 2,2'-(2,2-propanediyl)-bis(8-hydroxyquinoline), including a one-atom linker, showed that all heteroatoms of the bis-8-hydroxyquinoline ligand chelate the same metal ion in a distorted square-planar geometry. The Cu II and Zn II complexes include a fifth axial ligand and are pentacoordinated.

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The design and synthesis of new heterodinuclear DNA-targeting agents are described. The abilities of cisplatin and Cu(3-Clip-Phen) [Cu(1-(1,10-phenanthrolin-3-yloxy)-3-(1,10-phenanthrolin-8-yloxy)propan-2-amine)Cl2], an artificial DNA-cleaving agent, have been combined through their "covalent coupling". This strategy has led to bifunctional complexes that are able to cleave the DNA in a double-stranded fashion in contrast to Cu(3-Clip-Phen) alone and have promising cytotoxicities compared to cisplatin in several cell lines.

The DNA cleavage activity of copper complexes of phenanthroline has been increased by the use of “2‐Clip‐Phen” and “3‐Clip‐Phen” ligands containing two phenanthroline entities linked by a serinol bridge. In order to optimize DNA cleavage activity, two series of new Clip‐Phen ligands (L) with two phenanthroline residues linked through their C‐2 or C‐3 carbon atoms by different bridges have been synthesized. The physicochemical properties and the DNA cleavage activities of the corresponding (Clip‐Phen)copper complexes were investigated in the presence of a reductant and air. X‐ray analyses of single crystals showed that the cupric complexes of Clip‐Phen were able adopt dimeric double‐helical geometries with L2Cu2 stoichiometries in the solid state. These complexes adopt different geometries and stoichiometries in solution, with monomeric LCu species predominant. The compounds with a bridge connected at C‐2 are less active as DNA cleavage agents than complexes with the bridge at the C‐3 positions. Copper complexes with a bridge containing three methylene units appear to give the best results in DNA cleavage experiments. This activity is increased in the case of 3‐Clip‐Phen·CuCl2 by the presence of the primary amine function of the serinol bridge. This amine function is probably coordinated to the copper atom in the case of 2‐Clip‐Phen·CuCl2, decreasing the reactivity toward DNA. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2003)

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The cytostatic activities of a series of twelve 1,10-phenanthroline (Phen) derivatives and of their copper complexes were studied on L1210 murine leukemia cells. Large increases in the biological activity were observed for compounds of the 3-Clip-Phen series, in which two Phen moieties were bridged at their C3 positions by an alkoxy linker, the 3-pentyl-Clip-Phen derivative showing an IC(50) value of 130 nM while Phen shows an IC(50) value of 2500 nM under the same conditions. IC(50) values seemed to be modulated not only by the position, the nature, and the length of the linker of Clip-Phen but also by hydrophobicity. Since copper complexes of Phen are chemical nucleases and nucleic acids are thus a potential target for these compounds, the corresponding copper complexes were also studied. Copper complexation of the 3-Clip-Phen ligands did not increase their biological activities. Attempts to vectorize 3-Clip-Phen derivatives with a DNA binder such as spermine or with a cell-penetration peptide failed to increase their biological activity relative to the original 3-Clip-Phen series.

An environmentally friendly procedure has been developed for the oxidation of 2,4,6‐trimethylphenol (TMP) at the para C sp 3–H bond. Upon reaction with H2O2 in the presence of catalytic amounts of CuII and neocuproine in methanol at 65 °C, 4‐(methoxymethyl)‐2,6‐dimethylphenol (MDP) or 4‐hydroxy‐3,5‐dimethylbenzaldehyde (HDB) is formed (see reaction).