Submit to Molecules Review for Molecules Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Inorganic and Organometallic Compounds as Antiparasitic, Antibacterial, and Antifungal Agents

Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Organometallic Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2021) | Viewed by 12852

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Julien Furrer

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland
Interests: nuclear magnetic resonance; bioorganometallic chemistry; bioinorganic chemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Organometallic complexes have been used in cancer drug development for many years and, more recently, the potential of organometallic-based drug candidates against bacteria, parasites, and fungi has been demonstrated. In particular, the occurrence of multidrug-resistant bacteria has become an issue of such importance that the major pharmaceuticals companies have decided to join their forces on a special program worth $1 billion toward the development of new antimicrobial compounds. This program is unlike any witnessed to date in the fight against fungi and parasites, though the manifestation of multidrug-resistant parasites and fungi is certain to be problematic in the near future. Undoubtedly, the development of new classes of compounds to control the virulence of these pathogens is therefore urgently required.

This Special Issue is dedicated to sharing recent advances in the preparation of organometallic compounds as new classes of antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic agents with potential for clinical development. I am confident that the knowledge we will gain from this Special Issue will help researchers to design future compounds which are able to match the steadily more demanding requirements laid down by regulatory agencies for compounds to rightly achieve the optimal balance of efficacy and safety.

Prof. Dr. Julien Furrer
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Organometallic compounds
Antiparasitic activity
Mechanisms of action
Biological targets
Resistance
Antibacterial
Antimicrobial
Antifungal

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

18 pages, 1948 KiB

Open AccessArticle

New Mononuclear and Binuclear Cu(II), Co(II), Ni(II), and Zn(II) Thiosemicarbazone Complexes with Potential Biological Activity: Antimicrobial and Molecular Docking Study

by Ahmed Gaber, Moamen S. Refat, Arafa A.M. Belal, Ibrahim M. El-Deen, Nader Hassan, Rozan Zakaria, Majid Alhomrani, Abdulhakeem S. Alamri, Walaa F. Alsanie and Essa M. Saied

Molecules 2021, 26(8), 2288; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26082288 - 15 Apr 2021

Cited by 53 | Viewed by 3513

Abstract

Herein, we report the synthesis of eight new mononuclear and binuclear Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Zn²⁺ methoxy thiosemicarbazone (MTSC) complexes aiming at obtaining thiosemicarbazone complex with potent biological activity. The structure of the MTSC ligand and its metal complexes was fully characterized by elemental analysis, spectroscopic techniques (NMR, FTIR, UV-Vis), molar conductivity, thermogravimetric analysis (TG), and thermal differential analysis (DrTGA). The spectral and analytical data revealed that the obtained thiosemicarbazone-metal complexes have octahedral geometry around the metal center, except for the Zn²⁺-thiosemicarbazone complexes, which showed a tetrahedral geometry. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of the MTSC ligand and its (Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Zn²⁺) metal complexes were also investigated. Interestingly, the antibacterial activity of MTSC- metal complexes against examined bacteria was higher than that of the MTSC alone, which indicates that metal complexation improved the antibacterial activity of the parent ligand. Among different metal complexes, the MTSC- mono- and binuclear Cu²⁺ complexes showed significant antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis and Proteus vulgaris, better than that of the standard gentamycin drug. The in silico molecular docking study has revealed that the MTSC ligand could be a potential inhibitor for the oxidoreductase protein. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Inorganic and Organometallic Compounds as Antiparasitic, Antibacterial, and Antifungal Agents)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 6516 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ruthenium(IV) Complexes as Potential Inhibitors of Bacterial Biofilm Formation

by Agnieszka Jabłońska-Wawrzycka, Patrycja Rogala, Grzegorz Czerwonka, Sławomir Michałkiewicz, Maciej Hodorowicz and Paweł Kowalczyk

Molecules 2020, 25(21), 4938; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25214938 - 26 Oct 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1912

Abstract

With increasing antimicrobial resistance there is an urgent need for new strategies to control harmful biofilms. In this study, we have investigated the possibility of utilizing ruthenium(IV) complexes (H₃O)₂(HL1)₂[RuCl₆]·2Cl·2EtOH (1) and [RuCl₄(CH₃CN)₂](L³2)·H₂O (2) (where L1-2-hydroxymethylbenzimadazole, L³2-1,4-dihydroquinoxaline-2,3-dione) as effective inhibitors for biofilms formation. The biological activities of the compounds were explored using E. coli, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa PAO1, and P. aeruginosa LES B58. The new chloride ruthenium complexes were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, Hirshfeld surface analysis, FT-IR, UV-Vis, magnetic and electrochemical (CV, DPV) measurements, and solution conductivity. In the obtained complexes, the ruthenium(IV) ions possess an octahedral environment. The intermolecular classical and rare weak hydrogen bonds, and π···π stacking interactions significantly contribute to structure stabilization, leading to the formation of a supramolecular assembly. The microbiological tests have shown complex 1 exhibited a slightly higher anti-biofilm activity than that of compound 2. Interestingly, electrochemical studies have allowed us to determine the relationship between the oxidizing properties of complexes and their biological activity. Probably the mechanism of action of 1 and 2 is associated with generating a cellular response similar to oxidative stress in bacterial cells. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Inorganic and Organometallic Compounds as Antiparasitic, Antibacterial, and Antifungal Agents)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

17 pages, 1030 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synthesis and Antimicrobial Evaluation of Some New Organic Tellurium Compounds Based on Pyrazole Derivatives

by Asmaa B. Sabti, Adil A. Al-Fregi and Majeed Y. Yousif

Molecules 2020, 25(15), 3439; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25153439 - 29 Jul 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2077

Abstract

A novel series of organic tellurium compounds based on pyrazole derivatives with a general formula of ArTeBr₃ and Ar₂TeBr₂ [Ar = 2-(3-(4-substituted phenyl)-5-(2-chlorophenyl)-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-3,5-dinitrophenyl] were obtained by the refluxing of corresponding aryl mercuric chlorides with TeBr₄ in two different mole ratio of 1:1 and 2:1, respectively, in free-moisture dioxane solvent under an argon atmosphere. Compounds of ArTeBr₃ and Ar₂TeBr₂ were reduced by the action of ethanolic solution of hydrazine hydrate obtained Ar₂Te₂ and Ar₂Te, respectively. Reaction of Ar₂Te₂ with excess thionyl chloride or iodine gave the corresponding trihalides ArTeCl₃ and ArTeI₃, respectively while the reaction of Ar₂Te with thionyl chloride or iodine gave the corresponding Ar₂TeCl₃ and Ar₂TeI₃, respectively. The structures were elucidated according to their elemental analysis of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen (CHN) and some of the spectroscopic techniques such as infrared IR and nuclear magnetic resonance for ¹H and ¹³C. The antimicrobial activity for all the synthetic compounds were assayed against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria by using the agar diffusion method. The tellurated pyrazole derivatives showed a good degree against bacteria growth. In some cases, the antimicrobial activities of the synthetic compounds were better than amoxicillin. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Inorganic and Organometallic Compounds as Antiparasitic, Antibacterial, and Antifungal Agents)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

31 pages, 9901 KiB

Open AccessReview

Recent Advances in the Biological Investigation of Organometallic Platinum-Group Metal (Ir, Ru, Rh, Os, Pd, Pt) Complexes as Antimalarial Agents

by Mziyanda Mbaba, Taryn M. Golding and Gregory S. Smith

Molecules 2020, 25(22), 5276; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25225276 - 12 Nov 2020

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 4583

Abstract

In the face of the recent pandemic and emergence of infectious diseases of viral origin, research on parasitic diseases such as malaria continues to remain critical and innovative methods are required to target the rising widespread resistance that renders conventional therapies unusable. The prolific use of auxiliary metallo-fragments has augmented the search for novel drug regimens in an attempt to combat rising resistance. The development of organometallic compounds (those containing metal-carbon bonds) as antimalarial drugs has been exemplified by the clinical development of ferroquine in the nascent field of Bioorganometallic Chemistry. With their inherent physicochemical properties, organometallic complexes can modulate the discipline of chemical biology by proffering different modes of action and targeting various enzymes. With the beneficiation of platinum group metals (PGMs) in mind, this review aims to describe recent studies on the antimalarial activity of PGM-based organometallic complexes. This review does not provide an exhaustive coverage of the literature but focusses on recent advances of bioorganometallic antimalarial drug leads, including a brief mention of recent trends comprising interactions with biomolecules such as heme and intracellular catalysis. This resource can be used in parallel with complementary reviews on metal-based complexes tested against malaria. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Inorganic and Organometallic Compounds as Antiparasitic, Antibacterial, and Antifungal Agents)

► Show Figures