Review: Voltammetric properties and applications of hydrazones and azo moieties

Critical review on electrooxidation and chemical reduction of azo dyes: Economic approach

Effective degradation technologies have been extensively investigated and used to remove azo dyes from wastewater for decades. However, no review dealing with both electrooxidation and chemical reduction of azo dyes from an economic and, therefore, application-relevant perspective has been found in the current literature. A novelty of this review article consists not only in the brief summarization and comparison of both methods but mainly in the evaluation of their economic side. Based on the literature survey of the last 15 years, the costs of treatment approaches published in individual research articles have been summarized, and the missing data have been calculated. A broad spectrum of advanced electrode materials and catalysts have been developed and tested for the treatment, specifically aiming to enhance the degradation performance. An outline of the global prices of electrode materials, reducing agents, and basic chemicals is involved. All additional costs are described in depth in this review. The advantages and disadvantages of respective methods are discussed. It was revealed that effective and cheap treatment approaches can be found even in advanced degradation methods. Based on the collected data, electrooxidation methods offer, on average, 30 times cheaper treatment of aqueous solutions. Concerning chemical reduction, only ZVI provided high removal of azo dyes at prices <100 $ per kg of azo dye. The factors affecting total prices should also be considered. Therefore, the basic diagram of the decision-making process is proposed. In the conclusion, challenges, future perspectives, and critical findings are described.

Acylhydrazones and Their Biological Activity: A Review

Due to the structure of acylhydrazones both by the pharmacophore -CO-NH-N= group and by the different substituents present in the molecules of compounds of this class, various pharmacological activities were reported, including antitumor, antimicrobial, antiviral, antiparasitic, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antiedematous, antiglaucomatous, antidiabetic, antioxidant, and actions on the central nervous system and on the cardiovascular system. This fragment is found in the structure of several drugs used in the therapy of some diseases that are at the top of public health problems, like microbial infections and cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, the acylhydrazone moiety is present in the structure of some compounds with possible applications in the treatment of other different pathologies, such as schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Huntington's disease. Considering these aspects, we consider that a study of the literature data regarding the structural and biological properties of these compounds is useful.

Synthesis, X-ray Structure and Biological Studies of New Self-Assembled Cu(II) Complexes Derived from s-triazine Schiff Base Ligand

The two ligands 2-(1-(2-(4,6-dimorpholino-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)hydrazono)ethyl)aniline (DMAT) and 2-(1-(2-(4,6-dimorpholino-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)hydrazono)ethyl)phenol (DMOHT) were used to synthesize three heteroleptic Cu(II) complexes via a self-assembly technique. The structure of the newly synthesized complexes was characterized using elemental analysis, FTIR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to be [Cu(DMAT)(H2O)(NO3)]NO3.C2H5OH (1), [Cu(DMOT)(CH3COO)] (2) and [Cu(DMOT)(NO3)] (3). X-ray single-crystal structure of complex 1 revealed a hexa-coordinated Cu(II) ion with one DMAT as a neutral tridentate NNN-chelate, one bidentate nitrate group and one water molecule. In the case of complex 2, the Cu(II) is tetra-coordinated with one DMOT as an anionic tridentate NNO-chelate and one monodentate acetate group. The antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer activities of the studied compounds were examined. Complex 1 had the best anticancer activity against the lung carcinoma A-549 cell line (IC50 = 5.94 ± 0.58 µM) when compared to cis-platin (25.01 ± 2.29 µM). The selectivity index (SI) of complex 1 was the highest (6.34) when compared with the free ligands (1.3–1.8), and complexes 2 (0.72) and 3 (2.97). The results suggested that, among those compounds studied, complex 1 is the most promising anticancer agent against the lung carcinoma A-549 cell line. In addition, complex 1 had the highest antioxidant activity (IC50 = 13.34 ± 0.58 µg/mL) which was found to be comparable to the standard ascorbic acid (IC50 = 10.62 ± 0.84 µg/mL). Additionally, complex 2 showedbroad-spectrum antimicrobial action against the microbes studied. The results revealed it to possess the strongest action of all the three complexes against B. subtilis. The MIC values found are 39.06, 39.06 and 78.125 mg/mL for complexes 1–3, respectively.

Hydrazone-Based Small-Molecule Chemosensors

The hydrazone functional group is widely applied in several fields. The versatility and large use of this chemotype are attributed to its easy and straightforward synthesis and unique structural characteristics which is useful for different chemical and biological purposes. Recently hydrazone scaffold has been widely adopted in the design of small-molecule fluorescent and colorimetric chemosensors for detecting metals and anions because of its corresponding non-covalent interactions. This chapter provides an overview of hydrazone-based fluorescent and colorimetric chemosensors for anions and metals of biological interest, with their representative rational designs in the last 15 years. We hope this chapter inspires the development of novel and powerful fluorescent and colorimetric chemosensors for a broad range of applications.