An Explicative Review on the Current Advancement in Schiff Base-Metal Complexes as Anticancer Agents Evolved in the Past Decade: Medicinal Chemistry Aspects

In the recent era, developments in the field of bio-inorganic chemistry have improved interest in Schiff base complexes (imine scaffolds) for their pharmacological excellence in different areas. Schiff bases are a kind of synthetic molecule that is synthesized by the condensation reaction between a 1 amine and a carbonyl compound. Imine derivatives are also acknowledged for their ability to form complexes with several metals. Due to their wide range of biological activities, they have acquired prominence in the therapeutic and pharmaceutical industries. Inorganic chemists have continued to be intrigued by the vast range of uses of these molecules. Many of them are also thermally stable and have structural flexibility. Some of these chemicals have been discovered to be beneficial as clinical diagnostic agents as well as chemotherapeutic agents. Because of the flexibility of the reactions, these complexes have a wide range of characteristics and applications in biological systems. Anti-neoplastic activity is one of them. This review attempts to draw attention to the most notable examples of these novel compounds, which have excellent anticancer activity against different cancers. The synthetic scheme of these scaffolds, their metal complexes, and the explanation of their anticancer mechanism reported in this paper lead the researchers to design and synthesize more target-specific Schiff base congeners with little or no side effects in the future.