We report herein the synthesis and characterization of three heterocyclic curcuminoid ligands and their homoleptic metal complexes with magnesium and copper. Thus, N-methyl-2-pyrrolecarboxaldehyde, Furan-2-carboxaldehyde, and 2-Thiophenecarboxaldehyde were condensed with 2,4-pentanedione-boron trioxide complex. The first N-methyl-2-pyrrole curcuminoid and its Mg(II) complex are reported. All curcuminoid ligands and their corresponding metal complexes were characterized by infrared spectroscopy (IR), liquid state nuclear magnetic resonance (LSNMR), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), mass spectrometry (MS) and single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD). The ThiopheneCurc-Cu (9) constitutes the first case of a "conformationally-heteroleptic" complex. The unique six-peaks star arrangement for the ThiopheneCurc ligand derived from the supramolecular description is reported. The metal complexes of FuranCurc-Mg (5) and ThiopheneCurc-Cu (9) have a good antioxidant effect (IC50 = 11.26 ± 1.73 and 10.30 ± 0.59 μM), three and two times higher than their free ligands respectively. Additionally, (5) shows remarkable cytotoxicity against colon cancer adenocarcinoma cell line HCT-15, comparable to that of cisplatin, with a negligible toxic effect in vitro towards a healthy monkey kidney cell line (COS-7).
Keywords: antioxidant activity; conformationally-heteroleptic complex; copper complexes; crystal structure; curcumin analogous; cytotoxic activity; magnesium complexes.