Dimethyltin(IV) Dichloride N ‐(Phenyl/methyl‐substituted phenyl)salicylideneimine Compounds: Syntheses, Structures, and DNA Cleavage Studies

Five dimethyltin(IV) dichloride addition compounds of the type [Me 2 SnCl 2 (HL 1‐5 ) 2 ] ( HSR 1 – 5 ) have been synthesized by the reaction of dimethyltin(IV) dichloride with two equivalents of Schiff base ligands [where HL = N ‐(phenyl)salicylideneimine (HL 1 ), N ‐(2‐methylphenyl)salicylideneimine (HL 2 ), N ‐(3‐methylphenyl)salicylideneimine (HL 3 ), N ‐(4‐methylphenyl)salicylideneimine (HL 4 ), N ‐(2,4,6‐trimethylphenyl)salicylideneimine (HL 5 )] having two coordinating sites‐a phenolic oxygen and an azomethine nitrogen to resolve the disparity of coordinating mode of N ‐(phenyl/methyl substituted phenyl)salicylideneimine Schiff bases. Elemental analysis (C, H, N, Cl, and Sn), IR, and NMR ( 1 H, 13 C, and 119 Sn) spectroscopic examinations were used to characterize all synthesized compounds. The molecular structures of ( HSR 1 ), ( HSR 3 ), and ( HSR 4 ) were established by X‐ray crystallography diffraction analyses, which revealed that the molecules possess a center of symmetry around tin with all similar groups attached trans to each other in the octahedral environment. Agarose gel electrophoresis revealed that all five hexacoordinated dimethyltin(IV) compounds ( HSR 1–5 ) effectively induced DNA scission.