Structural and biological exploration of some transition metal complexes

Abstract

Identification and development of new transition metal complexes for possible biological applications is an active area of research Many transition metal complexes have been exploited as chemotherapeutic agents especially for the treatment of cancer Platinum based drugs are the only metal containing drugs in clinical use Cisplatin carboplatin oxaliplatin etc have proved to be indispensable in cancer chemotherapy However the usage of platinum based drugs as anticancer drug is restricted by its severe toxicity and side effects Thus there has been considerable interest in the development of new metal based drugs with higher efficacy lesser side effects and low clinical costs It is well known that DNA and protein are the two chief biological targets for anticancer drugs Metal complexes are found to be better candidates for interaction with DNA Zinc and copper are the second and third most abundant transition metal ions present in the cellular body They are essential for biological functions and play vital roles in many enzymatic reactions Being a redox active metal copper has the ability to produce reactive oxygen species that might affect the oxidative modification in the DNA and interfere with the redox related cellular signaling pathways Ligands containing amide groups are used to synthesize a large number of biologically and pharmaceutically relevant compounds The metal complexes containing amino acid have several synthetic and structural advantages over other complexes The chiral nature and better coordinating ability of amino acid derivatives would definitely enhance the interaction of metal complex with biomolecules Schiff bases derived from vitamin B6 component pyridoxal and its derivatives are another important class of ligands for metal coordination newline