Tyrosinase and catecholase-like activities of a dinuclear Cu(II) complex

Abstract

A dinuclear Cu(II) complex was synthesized and crystallographically characterized. The compound was found to have antiferromagnetic interaction in between the Cu(II) centres in the molecule. It had weak intermolecular ferromagnetic interaction. The compound was found to be tyrosinase and catecholase active. In case of tyrosinase activity, the diphenol formed was isolated using thin layer chromatography (TLC) and characterized through 1H NMR as well as mass spectrometry. The o-quinone derivative formed in this reaction was characterized using GC–MS. The latter activity was monitored spectrophotometrically and the product o-quinone derivative was isolated (in MeOH and MeCN) column chromatographically and characterized using melting point determination. These were followed by Michealis–Menten kinetics with turnover numbers 4.95 × 103 and 1.58 × 103 h−1 in MeOH and MeCN, respectively.