Review of Atypical Organometallic Compounds as Antimalarial Drugs

Organometallic compounds are molecules that contain at least one metal-carbon bond. Due to resistance of the Plasmodium parasite to traditional organic antimalarials, the use of organometallic compounds has become widely adopted in antimalarial drug discovery. Ferroquine, which was developed due to the emergence of chloroquine resistance, is currently the most advanced organometallic antimalarial drug and has paved the way for the development of new organometallic antimalarials. In this review, a general overview of organometallic antimalarial compounds and their antimalarial activity in comparison to purely organic antimalarials are presented. Furthermore, recent developments in the field are discussed, and future applications of this emerging class of therapeutics in antimalarial drug discovery are suggested.