Effect of amide-triazole linkers on the electrochemical and biological properties of ferrocene-carbohydrate conjugates

Amide-triazole linker incorporated ferrocene-carbohydrate conjugates were prepared by adopting a regiospecific copper(II)-catalysed 1,3-cycloaddition of ferrocenoyl propargylamide and isopropylidene/acetyl protected carbohydrate azides. Hydrophilic ferrocene glycoside with an amide-triazole linker was synthesised by deacetylation of the hydroxyl groups. All the new compounds were characterised by UV-visible and electrochemical studies and they were found to be stable in organic solvents as well as in the buffer system under physiological conditions (pH = 7.0). The diffusion coefficient (D-f) of the conjugates was also calculated by means of cyclic voltammetric studies. It was observed that while the molecular weight of the compounds had no significant effect on the diffusion coefficient, the hydrophobic/hydrophilic nature of the carbohydrate scaffold displayed varied diffusion coefficient values. Stabilization of the compounds in buffer solution under physiological pH led to almost identical diffusion coefficient values. The compounds derived from xylose and ribose exhibited cytotoxicity on hormone-dependent and hormone-independent breast cancer cell lines, whereas the conjugates derived from glucose and galactose were found to be non-toxic in nature. The compounds did not show any antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens.