Synthesis, fluorescence, and anticancer activity of silver(I) complex based on 2-hydroxyquinoxaline ligand

The reaction of 2-hydroxyquinoxaline ligand with silver nitrate in anhydrous methanol leaded to the formation of complex [Ag·(L)·(NO3)] (1) (L = 2-hydroxyquinoxaline). This complex is characterized by FT-IR spectrometer, elemental analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray single-crystal diffraction. The results show that 1 belongs to the monoclinic, P21/c space group, with a = 13.9949(12) Å, b = 9.2241(7) Å, c = 7.3110(10) Å, α = 90°; β = 101.945(11)°; γ = 90°, V = 923.34(17) Å3, Mr = 316.03. The solid-state fluorescence tests show that the fluorescence intensity of 1 is stronger than L, and it is accompanied by a blue shift phenomenon. The activity studies have shown that 1 has good anti-cancer activity with human cancer cells BEL-7404, A549, HepG2, and NCI-H1650, and their IC50 are less than 15 µg/mL. It can be seen that the silver-based complex not only has a good fluorescence response, but also has good anticancer activity.