Palladium(II) and platinum(II) complexes of a symmetric Schiff base derived from 2,6,diformyl-4-methylphenol with N-aminopyrimidine: synthesis, characterization and detection of DNA interaction by voltammetry.

The two new mononuclear complexes were prepared by reacting symmetric Schiff base, containing pyrimidine rings and the metal chlorides of Pd(II) and Pt(II) in methanol. The mononuclear structure of the complexes was confirmed on the basis of elemental analyses, magnetic susceptibility, IR, UV-Vis, NMR, DTA/TGA and API-ES mass spectral data. The interaction of these metal complexes with fish sperm double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) was studied electrochemically based on the oxidation signals of guanine and adenine. Differential pulse (DP) voltammetry by using renewable pencil graphite electrode was employed to monitor the DNA interaction at the surface or in solution. The results indicate that Pd(II) and (Pt) complexes with Schiff base ligand having pyrimidine rings strongly interacted with DNA. 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.