Synthesis and anticancer property of Zn(II) compounds nanoparticles based on tetrazole carboxylate ligands

Abstract Two new coordination compounds, [Zn(pytzipa) 2 (H 2 O) 4 ]·2H 2 O ( 1 ) and [Zn 2 (dtzpda)(H 2 O) 5 ]·3H 2 O ( 2 ) have been synthesized by solvothermal reactions of Zn(NO 3 ) 2 ·6H 2 O with Hpytzipa or H 4 dtzpda, respectively (Hpytzipa = 5-(3-pyridyl)tetrazole-2-isoproponaic acid, H 4 dtzpda = 3,3-di(1 H -tetrazol-5-yl)pentanedioic acid). The X-ray diffraction results reveal that compound 1 is a linear chain in which pytzipa acts as a bidentate ligand to bridge adjacent Zn 2+ ions by the nitrogen atom of the pyridine ring and the oxygen atom of the carboxylate group. In compound 2 , dtzpda 4− acts as a hepta-dentate ligand to bridge adjacent Zn 2+ ions by the nitrogen atoms of the tetrazole rings and the oxygen atoms of the carboxylate in a chelating mode. Furthermore, nanoparticles (NPs) of the two compounds were prepared by co-precipitation with PEG -5000 ( poly(ethyleneglycol -5000 ) ) . Both two NPs show considerable cytotoxicity towards HeLa cells but Hpytzipa and H 4 dtzpda are non-toxic in nature. The results show that coordination Zn(II) with Hpytzipa or H 4 dtzpda can improve the toxicity of the NPs significantly and the NPs of the compounds are potential candidates for treatment of cancer cells.