Investigation of the In Silico and Biological Activities of Substituted Phenethylamine-Based Imine-Metal Complexes

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Bayram T. Y., Yildirim M., Aksakal E., Ozgeris B., Görmez A.

Biointerface Research in Applied Chemistry, vol.16, no.3, 2026 (Scopus)

Abstract

Imines are biologically active compounds formed by primary amine-carbonyl condensation, coordinating through the C=N group. Here, copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes of a novel imine ligand were synthesized and evaluated for their multi-targeted biological potentials. Although lacking antimicrobial activity, both complexes demonstrated dose-dependent antioxidant activity in DPPH, ABTS, and CUPRAC assays (IC50 ranges: 0.47508-0.63325 mg/mL). Supported by in silico docking studies showing targeted binding affinities ranging from-10.2 to-6.7 kcal/mol against critical protein targets. Anticancer and cytotoxic effects were assessed in A549 and HDF-1 cells using the WST-8 and SRB assays. Both imin-metal complexes exhibited moderate anticancer activity in A549 cells, with the Cu complex having an IC50 value of 42.27 ± 0.68 µM and the Zn complex having an IC50 value of 45.21 ± 0.34 µM. While the Cu complex showed a cytotoxic effect at high concentrations in HDF-1 cells (IC50: 167.13 ± 0.15 µM), the Zn complex exhibited a high cytotoxic effect (IC50: 5.09 ± 0.03 µM) at all tested concentrations (6.25-200 µM). As a result of the SRB analysis, the total protein amount in A549 cells was determined to be 56% and 63% for Cu and Zn complexes, respectively; in HDF-1 cells, it was determined to be 94% and 11%, respectively.