Schiff base metal complex as a potential therapeutic drug in medical science: A critical review

Abstract

The discovery of new chemotherapeutics with novel bioactivities and functionalities to fight current emerging diseases has become the most significant research in pharmaceutical science. Schiff bases are versatile pharmacophores that can form complexes by chelation with metals of different oxidation states. Over a few decades of intensive research on metal-based drugs, Schiff base metal complexes have been considered as the active field of research in coordination chemistry, owing to their valuable applications in various fields of science. As therapeutic drugs, they have potential applications as antibiotic, antimicrobial, antitumor, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antifungal, and many more. There has been a global threat of drug resistance in medical science in recent years because most of the pathogenic organisms are developing the ability to deactivate drug substances. For this reason, it requires urgent attention from chemical and pharmaceutical scientists to address the severe challenges of multidrug resistance. This review summarizes the current developments in the last few decades' research on the chemotherapeutic activities of Schiff base metal complexes.
 BIBECHANA 18 (2021) 214-230

A Review on the Advancements in the Field of Metal Complexes with Schiff Bases as Antiproliferative Agents

“…The antiproliferative activities of the complexes on human cervical cancer cells (HeLa) and human breast cancer cells (MCF-7) were evaluated by MTT assay. All the complexes showed higher growth inhibition against the HeLa and MCF-7 cell lines, Ru(III) complex (41) being the most active, showing an IC 50 against HeLa cells very close to that of cisplatin. Studies of the interaction with the CTDNA supported that these complexes bind DNA as demonstrated by gel electrophoresis studies.…”

“…Finally, we will deepen complexed with lanthanides and discuss their antiproliferative activities [35,36]. Particularly, we want to highlight the importance of the antiproliferative activity of the metal complex-based Schiff bases, as a significant starting point for the development of new anticancer drugs, giving an update of recent reviews regarding this relevant topic in medicinal chemistry [37][38][39][40][41][42].…”

Schiff Base as Multifaceted Bioactive Core

“…Refluxing the mixture under neutral conditions or with acid or basic catalysts usually causes the Schiff base to develop, which is a reversible process. Usually, the product separation or water removal is what brings the formation to completion [47].…”

“…In the meantime, a number of methods and systems for the synthesis of Schiff base have been described, including NaHCO 3 [44], CuSO 4 [46], P 2 O 5 /Al 2 O 3 [47], MgClO 4 [45], ZnCl 2 [50], and MgSO 4 -PPTS [51]. In these systems, metal species act as Lewis acids to activate the carbonyl group and facilitate the removal of water.…”

New transition metal complexes of 1‐phenyl‐2‐((quinolin‐2‐ylmethylene)amino)ethan‐1‐ol Schiff base: Spectroscopic, X‐ray, DFT, Hirshfeld surface analysis, biological, and molecular docking studies

“…Notably, the chemotherapeutic activities of the complexes of Schiff bases have grasped the interest of many academic and clinical investigators and already become the subject of considerable articles. [13] For example, metal ions like zinc(II), copper(II), and chromium(III) have considerable affinity for coordination and showed potential use as metal-drug chemotherapeutic agents, which depends on the capability of the drug to promote DNA cleavage. [14][15][16][17] A large scale of many types of alkaloids that exist in nature are nitrogenous compounds of low molecular weight.…”