"Synthesis, Characterization, and Biological Activity of Ni(II) and Co(" by Jack Martin

Researcher ORCID Identifier

0009-0003-1613-1945

Graduation Year

2025

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Chemistry

Reader 1

Lorenzo Verderi

Reader 2

Nancy Williams

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2024 Jack S Martin

Abstract

The mechanics by which Reactive Oxygen Species work is an area of great interest given ROS’s wide range of biological applications. From cell signaling and mitochondrial regulation to pathogenesis and tumor cell death, varying concentrations of ROS in a system can lead to a whole host of positive and negative effects. In a similar vein, thiosemicarbazones are known to be equally useful for their myriad of antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antitumoral effects. They have been at the core of the pharmaceutical world or the better part of the last century. The purpose of this work is to synthesize, characterize and investigate the bioactivity of a series of thiosemicarbazone ligands chelated with both Cobalt (III) and Nickel (II). Characterization was done with 1 HNMR, 13 CNMR, IR, Mass Spec., and Elemental Analysis. Further tests included ROS scavenging tests, stability assays, cytotoxic analysis with G. mellonella, and IC 50 toxicity assays – performed against four human tumor cell lines, A549 (lung cancer), HL60 (human acute promyelocytic leukaemia), HT29 (human colorectal adenocarcinoma) and H2052 (human mesothelioma), by the Medicine and Surgery Department of the University of Parma. Thiosemicarbazone ligands (L1, L2, L3, and L4), included variations on the peripheral N4 amine group. With these ligands we synthesized and characterized coordination complexes with Cobalt (III) and Nickel (II). Of these complexes, we found that Ni(L2) 2 and Ni(L4) 2 were the most volatile towards tumor cell lines like HL60 and HT29. This tracked with DPPH quenching analysis, which showed that for Ni(L2) 2 and Ni(L4) 2 had significant negative change in RSA%. Further investigation into the cytotoxicity of these compounds is necessary due to inconclusive data from G. mellonella tests. Continued ROS tests are also necessary to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms by which these complexes interact with larger biosystems.

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