A series of aryl-functionalized and ferrocenyl monothiosemicarbazone compounds (L1-L4) were synthesized in moderate yields via a general Schiff-base condensation reaction. The thiosemicarbazone (TSC) ligands were reacted with the ruthenium dimer [Ru(Ar)(μ-Cl)Cl](2) (Ar = benzene; p-cymene) to yield a series of cationic mononuclear ruthenium(II)-arene thiosemicarbazone complexes of the general type [Ru(Cl)(TSC)(Ar)]Cl (1-8). The thiosemicarbazone ligands act as bidentate chelating ligands that coordinate to the ruthenium(ii) ion via the imine nitrogen and the thione sulfur atoms. The thiosemicarbazone ligands, as well as their metal complexes, were characterized by NMR, IR spectroscopy and ESI(+)-mass spectrometry. The molecular structure of the mononuclear ruthenium(II)-arene thiosemicarbazone complex (6) was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The ruthenium(II)-arene thiosemicarbazone complexes were further evaluated for their in vitro antiparasitic activities against the Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine-sensitive (NF54) and chloroquine-resistant (Dd2) strains, as well as the G3 strain of Trichomonas vaginalis.

High-throughput screening of a library of small polar molecules against Mycobacterium tuberculosis led to the identification of a phthalimide-containing ester hit compound (1), which was optimized for metabolic stability by replacing the ester moiety with a methyl oxadiazole bioisostere. A route utilizing polymer-supported reagents was designed and executed to explore structure-activity relationships with respect to the N-benzyl substituent, leading to compounds with nanomolar activity. The frontrunner compound (5h) from these studies was well tolerated in mice. A M. tuberculosis cytochrome bd oxidase deletion mutant (ΔcydKO) was hyper-susceptible to compounds from this series, and a strain carrying a single point mutation in qcrB, the gene encoding a subunit of the menaquinol cytochrome c oxidoreductase, was resistant to compounds in this series. In combination, these observations indicate that this novel class of antimycobacterial compounds inhibits the cytochrome bc1 complex, a validated drug target in M. tuberculosis.

For the treatment of malaria which affects nearly 200 million people each year and the continued exacerbation by the emergence of drug resistance to most of the available antimalarials, the "covalent bitherapy" suggests hybrid molecules to be the next-generation antimalarial drugs. In this investigation, new hybrids of 4-aminoquinoline and pyrimidine moieties that show antiplasmodial activity in the nM range against chloroquine-resistant as well as chloroquine-sensitive strains of Plasmodium falciparum have been prepared. Cytotoxicity evaluation and mode of action of most potent hybrid molecule have been conducted.

Tridentate cycloplatinated thiosemicarbazone complexes have been prepared from a biologically significant ligand, 3,4-dichloroacetophenone thiosemicarbazone (1). The tetranuclear complex 2 was prepared by reaction of the ligand with K2[PtCl4]. Two mononuclear (3 and 4) and two dinuclear (5 and 6) complexes were isolated upon cleavage of the Pt–Sbridging bonds of the tetranuclear complex 2 with the appropriate phosphane ligand. Each complex was characterized using various analytical and spectroscopic techniques, and the molecular structures of 2–4 were also elucidated. The in vitro antiparasitic activities of these complexes against Plasmodium falciparum strains (D10 (chloroquine sensitive) and Dd2 (chloroquine resistant)) and Trichomonas vaginalis have been determined. Preliminary studies into their potential plasmodial target in the form of β-hematin formation inhibition assays were also completed. Preliminary results suggest that ligand 1 and complex 3 do not hinder formation of β-hematin. The antiproliferative activity of the complexes against the cisplatin-senstive A2780 and cisplatin-resistant A2780cisR human ovarian cancer cell lines has been evaluated. The complexes were found to exhibit moderate to weak inhibitory activities.