Crystal structures, antioxidation and DNA binding properties of Yb(III) complexes with Schiff-base ligands derived from 8-hydroxyquinoline-2-carbaldehyde and four aroylhydrazines

X-ray crystal and other structural analyses indicate that Yb(III) and all four newly synthesized ligands can form a binuclear Yb(III) complex with a 1:1 metal to ligand stoichiometry by octacoordination at the Yb(III) center. Investigations of DNA binding properties show that all the ligands and Yb(III) complexes can bind to Calf thymus DNA through intercalations with the binding constants at the order of magnitude 10⁵–10⁷ M⁻¹, but Yb(III) complexes present stronger affinities to DNA than ligands. All the ligands and Yb(III) complexes may be used as potential anticancer drugs. Investigations of antioxidation properties show that all the ligands and Yb(III) complexes have strong scavenging effects for hydroxyl radicals and superoxide radicals but Yb(III) complexes show stronger scavenging effects for hydroxyl radicals than ligands. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.