A trinuclear cobalt coordination complex constructed using novel triazine ligands via one-pot green synthesis: structural properties and biological evaluation

At present, 1,2,4-triazines represent an essential category of six-membered heterocyclic compounds, which are of huge significance for the preparation of new drugs with varied biological properties, occupying a crucial place in modern medicinal chemistry due to their high potential for pharmacological activities. The electron-accepting nature of triazine makes it suitable for use in the synthesis of fluorescent green-light emitters with long device lifetimes and high electroluminescence efficiency. However, while this class of compounds is both important and valuable, systemic, feasible, green and versatile schemes are lacking in terms of producing 1,2,4-triazine skeletons that meet the requirements of synthetic compounds.

An efficient and easy technique for preparing 1,2,4-triazine derivatives via [4+2] domino annulations of acetophenone and benzimidohydrazide derivatives using the one-pot method has recently been described, and we thus placed our focus on developing a triazine skeleton via one-pot green synthesis.

Specifically, two new triazine ligands were synthesized via the reaction at 150 °C between glyoxylic acid and diaminguanidine. A corresponding cobalt complex was then synthesized via one-pot green synthesis and subsequently characterized using spectroscopic and elemental analysis methods, while the molecular structure and the spectral, thermal, and biological properties of the complex were also explored. The antioxidant activities of the compounds were found to be excellent, while the cobalt complex demonstrated potential cytotoxicity towards human breast adenocarcinoma cancer cells and was found to induce apoptosis. Overall, it is feasible for this complex to be integrated into a variety of systems.

This work was published as a cover paper (inside) on 21 April 2023 in New Journal of Chemistry (Royal Society of Chemistry), one of the renowned international academic Journals in the field of chemistry.