Hypoxia-Targeting Copper Bis(selenosemicarbazone) Complexes:  Comparison with Their Sulfur Analogues

The first copper bis(selenosemicarbazone) complexes have been synthesized, using the ligands glyoxal bis(selenosemicarbazone), pyruvaldehyde bis(selenosemicarbazone), and 2,3-butanedione bis(selenosemicarbazone). Their spectroscopic properties indicate that they are structurally analogous to their well-known square-planar sulfur-containing counterparts, the copper bis(thiosemicarbazone) complexes. Spectroscopic comparison of the sulfur- and selenium-containing complexes provides insight into their electronic structure. The effects on spectroscopic and redox properties of replacing sulfur with selenium, and of successive addition of methyl groups to the ligand backbone, are rationalized in terms of their electronic structure using spin-unrestricted density functional calculations. These suggest that, like the sulfur analogues, the complexes have a very low-lying empty ligand-based π-orbital immediately above the LUMO, while the LUMO itself has d_x²-y² character (i.e., is the spin partner of the HOMO). Replacement of S by Se shifts the oxidation potentials much more than the reduction potentials, whereas alkylation of the ligand backbone shifts the reduction potentials more than the oxidation potentials. This suggests that oxidation and reduction involve spatially different orbitals, with the additional electron in the reduced species occupying the ligand-based π-orbital rather than d_x²-y². Density functional calculations on the putative singlet Cu(I)-reduced species suggest that this ligand π-character could be brought about by distortion away from planarity during reduction, allowing the low-lying ligand π-LUMO to mix into the d_x²-y²-based HOMO. The analogy in the structure and reduction behavior between the sulfur- and selenium-containing complexes suggests that labeled with positron emitting isotopes of copper (Cu-60, Cu-62, Cu-64), the complexes warrant biological evaluation as radiopharmaceuticals for imaging of tissue perfusion and hypoxia.