Crystal structure and antitumor activities of the dichloride 2,6-bis(1-phenylbenzimidazol-2-yl)pyridine copper(II) complex

A new complex Cu(bpbp)Cl 2 ·DMF·H 2 O is synthesized by treatment of CuCl 2 with 2,6-bis(1-phenylbenzimidazol-2-yl)pyidine in DMF. Its structure is characterized by elemental, IR, UV, and single crystal X-ray structure analyses. For the complex: crystal system, triclinic, space group \(P\bar 1\) , a = 1.0537(1) nm, b = 1.1735(1) nm, c = 1.3749(2) nm, α = 112.275(2)°, β = 91.531(2)°, γ = 97.700(2)°, V = 1.553(4) nm 3 , Z = 2. In a distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry the Cu(II) ion is coordinated by three nitrogen atoms from 2,6-bis(1-phenylbenzimidazol-2-yl)pyridine and two chloride ions. The antiproliferative activities of the complex are screened by MTT assay against HepG2, Huh7, Eca109, and Eca9706 cancer cells. The complex exhibits specific inhibition on Eca9706 cancer cells with the IC 50 value of 28 μM after 48 h treatment. CCDC: 968927.