Hydrolytic cleavage of DNA by urea-bridged macrocyclic polyamines.

Novel bis-cyclen derivative A with urea, mono-cyclen derivative B with urea and amino acid urea C were synthesized as DNA cleavage agents. The structures of these new compounds were identified by MS and (1)H NMR spectroscopy. The catalytic activities on DNA cleavage of these compounds were subsequently studied, and results show that A is a much better catalyst in DNA cleavage process than that of B and C. The effects of reaction time and catalyst concentration were also investigated. The results indicate that A can catalyze the cleavage of supercoiled DNA (pUC 19 plasmid DNA) to nicked DNA under physiological conditions with high yields (nearly 100%) via a hydrolytic mechanism.