Molecular modeling, spectral investigation and thermal studies of the new asymmetric Schiff base ligand; (E)-N'-(1-(4-((E)-2-hydroxybenzylideneamino)phenyl)ethylidene)morpholine-4-carbothiohydrazide and its metal complexes: Evaluation of their antibacteri

Bacterial Diversity Associated with Terrestrial and Aquatic Snails

The introduction of the holobiont concept has triggered scientific interest in depicting the structural and functional diversity of animal microbial symbionts, which has resulted in an unprecedented wealth of such cross-domain biological associations. The steadfast technological progress in nucleic acid-based approaches would cause one to expect that scientific works on the microbial symbionts of animals would be balanced at least for the farmed animals of human interest. For some animals, such as ruminants and a few farmed fish species of financial significance, the scientific wealth of the microbial worlds they host is immense and ever growing. The opposite happens for other animals, such as snails, in both the wild and farmed species. Snails are evolutionary old animals, with complex ecophysiological roles, living in rich microbial habitats such as soil and sediments or water. In order to create a stepping stone for future snail microbiome studies, in this literature review, we combined all the available knowledge to date, as documented in scientific papers, on any microbes associated with healthy and diseased terrestrial and aquatic snail species from natural and farmed populations. We conducted a Boolean search in Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect until June 2024, identifying 137 papers, of which 60 were used for original data on snail bacterial communities in the gastrointestinal tract, hepatopancreas, and feces. We provide a synthesis on how representative this knowledge is towards depicting the possible snail core microbiota, as well as the steps that need to be taken in the immediate future to increase the in-depth and targeted knowledge of the bacterial component in snail holobionts.

Hexakis(urea-O)iron Complex Salts as a Versatile Material Family: Overview of Their Properties and Applications

Due to their Fe- and N-containing reactive urea ligand content, the hexakis(urea-O)iron(II) and hexakis(urea-O)iron(III) complexes were found to be versatile materials in various application fields of industry and environmental protection. In our present work, we have comprehensively reviewed the synthesis, structural and spectroscopic details, and thermal properties of hexakis(urea-O)iron(II) and hexakis(urea-O)iron(III) salts with different anions (NO3-, Cl-, Br- I-, I3-, ClO4-, MnO4-, SO42-, Cr2O72-, and S2O82-). We compared and evaluated the structural, spectroscopic (IR, Raman, UV-vis, Mössbauer, EPR, and X-ray), and thermogravimetric data. Based on the thermal behavior of these complexes, we evaluated the solid-phase quasi-intramolecular redox reactions of anions and urea ligands in these complexes and summarized the available information on the properties of the resulting simple and mixed iron-containing oxides. Furthermore, we give a complete overview of the application of these complexes as catalysts, reagents, absorbers, or agricultural raw materials.

Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications of Rare-Earth-Based Complexes with Antibacterial and Antialgal Properties

The pursuit of environmentally friendly and highly effective antifouling materials for marine applications is of paramount importance. In this study, we successfully synthesized novel rare earth-based complexes by coordinating cerium (Ce III), samarium (Sm III), and europium (Eu III) with pyrithione (1-hydroxy-2-pyridinethione; PT). Extensive characterizations were performed, including single-crystal X-ray analysis, which revealed the intriguing binuclear structure of these complexes. This structural motif comprises two rare-earth ions intricately double-bridged by two oxygen atoms from the PT ligand, resulting in a distinctive and intriguing geometry. Furthermore, the central rare earth ion is surrounded by three sulfur atoms and two additional oxygen atoms, forming a unique distorted bicapped trigonal prismatic configuration. Compared with conventional antifouling biocides such as sodium pyrithione (NaPT), copper pyrithione (CuPT), and zinc pyrithione (ZnPT), these newly synthesized rare-earth complexes exhibited a remarkable boost in their in vitro antibacterial efficacy against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Additionally, these complexes demonstrated significant potential as antialgal agents, displaying impressive activity against marine planktonic organisms. These findings underscore the promising application prospects of these rare-earth complexes in the field of marine antifouling.

Spectroscopic Analyses and Antimicrobial Activity of Novel Ciprofloxacin and 7-Hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin, the Plant-Based Natural Benzopyrone Derivative

Coumarin is highly distributed in nature, notably in higher plants. The biological features of coumarin include antibacterial, anticancer and antioxidant effects. It is well known that metal ions present in complexes accelerate the drug action and the efficacy of organic therapeutic agents. The main aim of the current study is the synthesis of different complexes of the interaction between ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (CIP) and coumarin derivative 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin (HMC) with Zr(IV). The chelates of CIP with Zr(IV) were prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, melting point, conductance measurements, spectroscopic techniques involving IR, UV-Vis, ¹H NMR, and thermal behavior (TG-DTG) in the presence of HMC, dimethylformamide (DMF), pyridine (Py), and triethylamine (Et₃N). Results of molar conductivity tests showed that the new synthesized complexes are electrolytes with a 1:1 or 1:2 electrolyte ratio, with the chloride ions functioning as counter ions. According to IR spectra, CIP acts as a neutral bidentate ligand with Zr(IV) through one carboxylato oxygen and the carbonyl group, HMC as a monodentate through the carbonyl group, and DMF through the oxygen atom of the carbonyl group and the N atom of Py and Et₃N. The thermal behavior of the complexes was carefully investigated using TG and DTG techniques. TG findings signal that water molecules are found as hydrated and coordinated. The thermal decomposition mechanisms proposed for CIP, HMC, and Zr(IV) complexes are discussed and the activation energies (E_a), Gibbs free energies (∆G*), entropies (∆S*), and enthalpies (∆H*) of thermal decomposition reactions have been calculated using Coats–Redfern (CR) and Horowitz–Metzeger (HM) methods. The studied complexes were tested against some human pathogens and phytopathogens, including three Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, B. cereus, Brevibacterium otitidis) and three Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichiacoli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae), and compared to the free CIP and HMC parent compounds.

Recent Advances in Schiff Base Ruthenium Metal Complexes: Synthesis and Applications

This review concentrates on recent developments in ruthenium Schiff bases, whose steric and electronic characteristics can be manipulated easily by selecting suitable condensing aldehydes or ketones and primary amines, and their metal complexes. Ruthenium metal-based complexes and Schiff base ligands are rapidly becoming conventionally considered for biological applications (antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial), in catalysis, in functional materials, in sensors, and as pigments for dyes. Ruthenium complexes exhibit a broad variety of activities concerning simple Schiff base ligands. This may be due to the octahedral bonding of both Ru(II) and Ru(III) complexes, which acquire an extended reservoir of a three-dimensional framework, providing the potential for an elevated degree of site selectivity for binding to their biological targets. This review provides an overview of this field, and intends to highlight both ligand design and synthetic methodology development, as well as significant applications of these metal complexes. In this review, we summarize our work on the development of ruthenium complexes, which was performed over the last few years.