A trinuclear copper (II) complex of naproxen-appended salicylhydrazide: Synthesis, crystal structure, DNA binding and molecular docking study

A trinuclear copper complex [Cu-3(napxshz)(2)(phen)(2)] has been synthesised using a tribasic naproxen-appended ligand [H(3)napxshz = 2-hydroxy-N '-(2-[6-methoxynaphthalen-2-yl] propanoyl) benzohydrazide] and 1,10-phenanthroline. The complex was characterised by different spectroscopic methods such as Fouriertransform infrared (FT-IR), ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) and electrospray ionisation (ESI)-mass spectroscopy. The solid-state structure of the ligand and complex 1 was established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The interaction of the complex and the ligand with DNA was investigated by UV-visible spectroscopy and fluorometric titrations. The calculated binding constants (K-b) of the complex and the ligand with ct-DNA show that the complex has a higher binding affinity than the ligand H(3)napxshz. Quantum chemical calculations were performed to understand the structural aspects of the complex and its interactions with DNA. The molecular docking study reveals the interaction between DNA, and the complex is in intercalative mode.