Two new amide-based ligands, N,N'-bis(2-carboxylphenyl)-2,6-pyridinedicarboxamide (L1), N,N'-bis(2-carboxyphenyl ethyl ester)-2,6-pyridinedicarboxamide (L2) and a one-dimensional polymeric complex from the reaction of (L1) and Cu(NO3)2•3H2O with the formula {[Cu(CPCP)](DMAP).3H2O}n [where DMAP is 4-dimethylaminopyridine and CPCP is 6-(2-carboxylatophenylcarbamoyl) picolinate] were synthesized. These compounds have been fully characterized by elemental and thermal analysis, FT-IR, UV-Vis, MS spectroscopy and their molecular structures were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Possible mechanisms for esterification and hydrolysis of (L1) were proposed. Study of electrochemical behavior of compounds using cyclic voltammetry at E of –1.0 to +1.0 V showed two redox couple for complex (3) corresponding to Cu(I)/Cu(0) and Cu(II)/Cu(I) at E0ˊof –0.26 to 0.08 V versus Ag/AgCl. Ligands (L1) and (L2) did not exhibit any wave in the investigated potential range. Also, complex (3) was evaluated for catalytic activity on the oxidation of aromatic and aliphatic alcohols by changing parameters such as the amount of catalyst, amount of oxidant and also reaction temperature. The outstanding catalytic performance of complex (3) was confirmed with selective conversion of alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes. The cytotoxic effect of compounds was evaluated using oxaliplatin as a standard against MCF7 (a human breast cancer cell line), HT29 (a human colon adenocarcinoma cell line) and βTC (a mouse beta pancreatic cell line) cell lines. The cancerous cells exhibited the highest sensitivity to compound (3) with IC50 values about 1-10 μM.
