Synthesis of some new antibacterial active cadmium and mercury complexes of 4-(3-(2-(4-(dimethyl aminophenyl allylidene aminopropyl-imino)prop-1-ethyl)-N,N-dimethyl benzene amine

Synthesis and preliminary biological evaluation of antibacterial and antifungal 5-arylidene tetramic acid-cadmium(II) complexes

The synthesis and biological evaluation of 5-arylidene-N-acetyl-tetramic acids cadmium(II) complexes are reported. Eleven novel compounds were prepared, characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance experiments and screened for their antimicrobial activity against five bacterial species (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA]) and two fungi (Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans). The complexes showed similar or enhanced activities against MRSA in comparison to the corresponding ligands and, additionally, promising antifungal activities against C. neoformans. The most active compounds 3c and 3h showed remarkable activities against MRSA (minimum inhibitory activity [MIC] values of 32 and 4 μg/ml, respectively) and C. neoformans (MIC values of 8 and 16 μg/ml, respectively), accompanied by no human cell toxicity and hemolytic activity within the tested concentration range. The results demonstrate that appropriately functionalized tetramic acids attached with lipophilic alkanoyl chain and after complexation with cadmium(II) ions may act as valuable lead compounds for further investigations toward the development of novel antibacterial and/or antifungal agents.

Recent Studies on the Antimicrobial Activity of Transition Metal Complexes of Groups 6–12

Antimicrobial resistance is an increasingly serious threat to global public health that requires innovative solutions to counteract new resistance mechanisms emerging and spreading globally in infectious pathogens. Classic organic antibiotics are rapidly exhausting the structural variations available for an effective antimicrobial drug and new compounds emerging from the industrial pharmaceutical pipeline will likely have a short-term and limited impact before the pathogens can adapt. Inorganic and organometallic complexes offer the opportunity to discover and develop new active antimicrobial agents by exploiting their wide range of three-dimensional geometries and virtually infinite design possibilities that can affect their substitution kinetics, charge, lipophilicity, biological targets and modes of action. This review describes recent studies on the antimicrobial activity of transition metal complexes of groups 6–12. It focuses on the effectiveness of the metal complexes in relation to the rich structural chemical variations of the same. The aim is to provide a short vade mecum for the readers interested in the subject that can complement other reviews.