Spectroscopic evaluation of chalcone derivatives and their zinc metal complexes: A combined experimental and computational approach studying the interactions of the complexes with the serum albumin

Three chalcone derivatives (L₁, L₂, L₃) were synthesized using Claisen-Schmidt condensation reaction. Their molecular structures and spectroscopic properties (IR, UV-vis, ¹HNMR), were calculated at B3LYP level. Electrostatic interactions and HOMO-LUMO properties were calculated using TD-DFT method. Molecular docking was used to compare the HSA (human serum albumin) interactions with the ligands and their Zn complexes (C₁, C₂, C₃) which were synthesized by interaction between the ligands and the Zn (II) ion in a 2:1 M ratio. Elemental analysis, FT-IR, and UV–Vis spectroscopy studies investigated the structure of the synthesized complexes. UV–Vis, molecular docking and molecular dynamics were used to study the interactions of the Zn complexes with the BSA (bovine serum albumin). The biological activity of the Zn-Chalcone complexes was generally higher than the chalcones when evaluated spectroscopically and theoretically.