Pharmacological Activity of a Few Transition Metal Complexes: A Short Review

Transition metals have an important place within medicinal inorganic chemistry. Transition metals exhibit different oxidation states and can interact with a number of negatively charged molecules. This activity of transition metals led to the recent development of drugs which are based on metals and are considered to be potential candidates for pharmacological and therapeutic applications. This review focuses on research undertaken over the past few decades which has sought to possess preclinical pharmacological screenings like anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor action of synthetic transition metal complexes. It concentrates primarily on a limited number of first row transition metal complexes particularly V(IV), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes and traces the pharmacological applications of these coordination compounds. In the first part, the nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur donor ligands chelating to transition metals used in metallodrugs are described. The second part describes the pre-clinical screenings viz., anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor responses of the above coordination compounds incorporating these nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur donor ligands. This survey encourages further research in this field for future applications.