Solid complexes (1–4) of Schiff base ((o-tolylimino)methyl)phenol (HL) with manganese(II), cobalt(II), nickel(II), and copper(II) were synthesized in methanol under reflux. Schiff base (HL) was synthesized through condensation reaction of 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde with o-toluidine. Ligand (HL) and synthesized complexes (1–4) were characterized by using different spectroscopic techniques (UV–visible, FTIR, ¹H NMR, mass spectrometry, powder X-ray diffractometer [XRD]), magnetic measurements, and thermal gravimetric analysis. Spectroscopic analysis demonstrated that ligand being bidentate, in all the complexes, coordinates with metals through the N atom of azomethine group and O atom of the hydroxyl group. Molecular ion peaks (m/z) appear in the mass spectra of complexes confirm the proposed stoichiometry. TGA data of complexes 1 and 2 exhibited water molecules coordinated with the central metal ions (Mn²⁺ and Co²⁺). Magnetic Susceptibility analysis of metal complexes proposed octahedral geometry for Mn(II) and Co(II) complexes. Conductivity analysis was in good agreement with non-electrolyte nature of metal complexes. Global reactivity data exhibited that metal(II) complexes are soft as compared to HL. Moreover, frontier molecular orbital (FMO) findings revealed that among the metal complexes, [Mn(L)₂(H₂O)₂] 1 was having large energy gap showing greater stability and less reactivity, while [Ni(L)₂] 3 was found most reactive among all of them. Values of chemical reactivity descriptors obtained denoted that synthesized metal complexes can be proved as efficient biological candidates owing to their reactivity patterns. In vitro antibacterial and antifungal activity of complexes and ligand were evaluated against different strains of bacteria (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis) and fungi (Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, Trichoderma harzianum, and Aspergillus flavus) via disc diffusion method. The bacterial and fungal growth more efficiently inhibited by the use of metal complexes (1–4) than ((o-tolylimino)methyl)phenol (HL).

A three-component reaction of styrenes, indoles, and diaryl diselenides catalyzed by copper chloride under irradiation of blue LED light is disclosed. This protocol provides 26 examples of β-(hetero)arylselenyl indoles in 60%–87% yields. The proposed mechanism involves the activation of diaryl diselenides by coordination with copper chloride, generation of arylselenium cations by heterolysis of activated diaryl diselenides, electrophilic addition of arylselenium cations to styrenes, and then Friedel–Crafts-type alkylation at the 3-position of NH-indoles.

A three-component reaction of olefins, indoles, and diaryl diselenides catalyzed by copper chloride under irradiation of blue LED light is disclosed. Various diaryl diselenides including diheteroaryl diselenides are suitable for this bifunctionalization of olefins. This protocol provides 26 examples of β-(hetero)arylselenyl indoles in 60%–87% yields. The proposed mechanism involves activation of diaryl diselenides by coordination with copper chloride, generation of arylselenium cations by heterolysis of activated diaryl diselenides, electrophilic addition of arylselenium cations to styrenes, and then Friedel–Crafts-type alkylation at the 3-position of NH-indoles.

Two new Cu(II) complexes are prepared and fully characterized. Complexes have a good thermal stability. Complex 4 could be used in the development of the new drugs for the treatment of oxidative stress-caused pathological disorders, whereas both complexes could be used in further investigations as potential therapeutic candidates for the treatment of various types of cancer.

Two azo dye ligands, bearing different substituents (chlorine atom or methoxy group) in the para-position of the phenyl ring, were employed for the synthesis of two Cu(II) chelates. Full structural affirmation of complexes was assessed. X-ray diffraction measurements revealed that the coordination geometry for Cu atoms in both complexes is square-pyramidal with a ligand:metal ratio of 2:1 where dyes behave as monobasic bidentate ligands. Thermogravimetric analyses of the complexes and their starting dyes were performed to study their thermal stabilities and decomposition behavior confirming the thermal stability of both dyes and complexes. Antioxidative activity of the complexes has been assigned and compared with their parent ligands revealing that the presence of the electron–donor, methoxy group, in the phenyl ring, in both dye and complex, is responsible for the activity (IC₅₀ values of 1.54 for the dye and 1.30 mM for the complex). It should be stated that the complexation of the methoxy-substituted dye leads to enhanced antioxidative activity concurrent to a standard antioxidant molecule of ascorbic acid, making this molecule a promising antioxidant agent. Docking study with vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 and Aurora kinase A proteins indicate that complexes exhibit higher binding affinities to proteins than the starting ligand dyes. The most promising structure exhibiting the best docking potential toward both proteins is the complex-bearing methoxy group. The presented results represent a promising start for further investigations of these compounds as potential therapeutic candidates for the treatment of various types of cancer.

A novel 2D bimetallic coordination polymer was obtained under solvothermal conditions. The compound contained cooperative Lewis base–acid sites and employed as a heterogeneous catalyst to promote one-pot deacetalization-Knoevenagel reaction of benzaldehyde dimethyl acetal and malononitrile.

Designing multifunctional catalysts for one-pot organic transformations is highly important due to economic and environmental point of views. Synthesis of bifunctional acid–base tandem catalysts has drawn attention owing to the incorporation of antagonistic active sites in a single catalyst. In the current work, a novel coordination polymer, [NaZn(btc)(H₂O)₃].1.5H₂O (1) (1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid [H₃btc]), was prepared by solvothermal method. Single crystal analysis of 1 revealed that the structure is two dimensional and contains the coexisted Lewis acid–base sites. The material was further characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, FT-IR, thermogravimetric analysis, and temperature programed desorption of NH₃ (NH₃-TPD) and CO₂ (CO₂-TPD). Compound 1 was utilized as a heterogeneous catalyst for tandem deacetalization-Knoevenagel reaction of benzaldehyde dimethyl acetal and malononitrile. It exhibited good activity and structural stability during the reaction.

The biologically potent monometallic and heterobimetallic complexes of Ni(II) were synthesized, and all the synthesized complexes were characterized by various spectroscopic techniques like UV, FTIR, Mass, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR and Powder X-ray diffraction studies. Heterobimetallic complexes showed good antimicrobial activity against a number of pathogenic fungi and bacteria. The complexes of Ni(II) exhibited effective cytotoxicity activity against MCF-7, HeLa and HaCaT cell lines.

The newly designed trinuclear heterobimetallic complexes [Ni(L)₂(M)₂R₄Cl₂] were synthesized by using methanolic solution of mononuclear Ni (II) complex and various organometallic dichlorides (where L = 1,8-diaminaphthalene [C₁₀H₁₀N₂], M = Sn [IV], Si [IV], Ti [IV] and Zr [IV] and R = Ph, Me, C₅H₅, etc.). The synthesized complexes were characterized on the basis of physico-chemical and spectral (FTIR, UV-visible, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, ²⁹Si-NMR, ¹¹⁹Sn-NMR, Mass, and PXRD) studies. IR spectroscopy confirmed the coordination of -NH₂ group to the metal centre. PXRD patterns showed the crystalline nature of all the synthesized complexes. Among the synthesized complexes, mononuclear metal complex adopted square planar geometry, while trinuclear heterobimetallic complexes adopted distorted octahedral geometry. This geometry is also supported by DFT calculations. The in vitro antimicrobial effectiveness of these resulting compounds has been scrutinized against a number of bacterial strains (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Staphyloccocus aureus) by agar disc diffusion method and fungal strains (Candida albicans, Fusarium oxysporum and Aspergillus niger) by disc diffusion method, and promising results were attained. The in vitro cytotoxicity activity of the synthesized complexes has been scrutinized against human cervical cancer cells (HeLa) and human breast cancer cells (MCF-7) using MTT assay and showed higher cytotoxicity than cis-platin. Furthermore, their non-toxic nature was confirmed when they tested against human normal keratinocyte cells (HaCaT). The results indicated better biological activity of heterobimetallic complexes than their monometallic complex.

The inherent internal porosity of carbon frameworks derived from ZIF-8 offers significant pathways for the efficient migration of Li-ions and provides storage space. The presence of Zn clusters within the porous carbon structures aids in reducing the formation energy, thereby facilitating the growth of Li metal within the internal pores. The overpotential associated with the Li metallization reaction was effectively mitigated due to the low formation energy, ensuring excellent cycling stability by improving reversibility.

The utilization of lithium (Li) metal as an anode has attracted significant attention for high-energy Li batteries. Unfortunately, uncontrollable Li dendrite cannot be avoided during Li plating and stripping. Much intensive research has been conducted to suppress the dendritic growth by confinement of metallic Li in host architectures. Recently, zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) with a porous features have been used to explore a new approach to storing the Li metal with the advantages of their structural and chemical stability, large surface areas, and large pore cavities. Herein, we investigate the storage capability of metallic Li in a porous carbon framework derived from ZIFs as a function of carbonization temperature. Diversities in pore volumes and channels, the degree of crystallinity, the amount of residual zinc (Zn) metal, and the electrical conductivity can all be controlled by temperature. We demonstrate that well-connected pore channels and adequate electrical conductivity secure the Li-ion pathways and that well-distributed Zn clusters in porous carbon trigger the outward growth of metallic Li from inside the frameworks, resulting in a relatively low overpotential and long-lasting cyclability. Our findings can provide practical insight into advanced electrode design for next-generation Li metal batteries.

A water-dispersible Ori-loaded Fe-MOF NPs with suitable particle size and good biocompatibility were successfully synthesized and modified with tumor-targeting FA on its surface. The obtained Fe-MOF-FA@Ori NPs possess low cytotoxicity, good drug loading capacity, and pH-responsive drug release property. Meanwhile, the Fe-MOF-FA@Ori NPs exhibit better cancer therapeutic efficiency and could signally induce apoptosis, interfere with the cell cycle progression, and inhibit the migration ability of SMMC-7721 cells.

Oridonin (Ori) is a natural active component with superior anticancer properties; however, its clinical application is severely limited by the inherent properties of short half-life, limited bioavailability, and low water solubility. Some metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) materials have unique porous structure and appropriate nanometer particle size that are attractive in drug delivery. Herein, a folic acid (FA)-functionalized Fe-MOF was designed to efficiently incorporate Ori for targeting delivery to cancer cells and improve anticancer effects. The synthesized Fe-MOF-FA@Ori showed an average particle size of 200 nm with a loading capacity of 12.57%. The cytotoxicity assay confirmed that Fe-MOF-FA@Ori was effective in inhibiting the proliferation of SMMC-7721 cells. Mechanistically, the synthesized nanoparticle induced apoptosis and blocked the progression of the G0/G1 phase cell cycle on SMMC-7721 cells. Cell metastasis and invasion assays demonstrated that Fe-MOF-FA@Ori had good anti-metastatic ability against SMMC-7721 cells. Overall, Fe-MOF-FA is a potent drug carrier for targeting cancer therapy.

We developed the one-pot synthesis route to prepare dinuclear Co- and Ni-based catalysts. The Co-based catalysts tetramerize ethylene with high selectivity, while oily to branched solid polyethylene were produced by Ni-based catalysts. Empirical conforming evidences for cooperative effect between the centers by changing the monomer length confirmed.

A series of dinuclear pyridyl-imine Co- and Ni-based complexes (Co: C ₁ and C ₂ and Ni: C ₃ and C ₄ ) were prepared in reasonable yields through one-pot synthesis method. Toward ethylene oligomerization/polymerization, C ₁ and C ₂ , activated by MMAO, were capable to produce oligomers with moderate activity (up to 5.1 × 10⁵ g mol⁻¹ Co h⁻¹ for C ₂ ) which α-C₈ was the major product. In contrast, C ₃ and C ₄ polymerized ethylene that the activity of C ₄ was twofold greater than C ₂ . The high impact of o-substituent in C ₂ and C ₄ was along with dinuclearity effect leading to high productivity and selectivity for ethylene oligomerization and polymerization, respectively. Moreover, polymerization parameters had strong influence on catalytic behavior of C ₄ and polyethylene samples made. For instance, high sensitivity of the structures led to formation of an oily branched oligoethylene to highly branched, high M _w polyethylene by changing the polymerization conditions. Polymerization of higher α-olefins such as 1-hexene and 1-octene, moreover, emphasized the effect of effective distance between the centers where an oily low M _w oligo-1-hexene and a solid poly(1-octene) having higher M _w were yielded. On the other side, quantum chemistry calculations were performed to investigate the structural properties and reactivity of the Ni- and Co-based species. The obtained results indicated that the Ni atoms have strong molecular orbital interactions with the CC bond which may increase the reactivity of the catalyst in comparison with the Co metals.

Pure ZnO and the co-doped ZnO synthetize using a hydrothermal technique. After characterizing, XPS and EDX showed that Sm³⁺, La³⁺, and Sr²⁺ ions integrated into the ZnO lattice. The Zeta potential proved the positivity surface charge of nanomaterials. Consequently, they utilized it to investigate the breakdown of reactive red 43. The Sm-Sr CDZ NPs exhibit high photocatalytic activity. Surprisingly, most of these nanomaterials expressed bactericidal and fungicidal potential. Finally, investigated the molecular docking simulation.

This work effectively synthesized pure ZnO (PZ) and the co-doped ZnO as Sm-La CDZ NPs, La-Sr CDZ NPs, and Sm-Sr CDZ NPs using a hydrothermal technique. To characterize synthetic nanomaterials used, several techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectra, ultraviolet and visible (UV/Vis), photoluminescence (PL), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and graphs by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (XPS), Zeta potential, point of (pH_pzc), and specific surface areas. Furthermore, the XRD, SEM, and TEM confirmed the hexagonal crystalline structure. However, XPS and EDX showed that Sm³⁺, La³⁺, and Sr²⁺ ions integrated into the ZnO lattice. The UV-estimated band gaps increased in the co-doped ZnO; BET surface areas declined. The Zeta potential proved the positivity surface charge of nanomaterials. Consequently, they utilized it to investigate the breakdown of reactive red 43 (RR43). The degradation percentages for PZ, Sm-La CDZ NPs, La-Sr CDZ NPs, and Sm-Sr CDZ NPs were 72.88%, 82.63%, 87.08%, and 91.31%, respectively. According to the results, the Sm-Sr CDZ NPs exhibit high photocatalytic activity. In addition, the pseudo-first-order kinetic model and Langmuir model were a better fit. The photocatalytic nanomaterials were also recyclable, which added to their stability. The prepared nanoparticles were evaluated against four bacterial strains and two fungal pathogenic, and the result exhibited a broad spectrum against tested strains. The co-doped NPs revealed MIC values ranging between1.95 and 62.5 μg/mL and MBC values of (31.3–250 μg/mL) compared with PZ (MIC = 7.81–62.5 μg/mL and MBC = 31.3–250 μg/mL) against bacterial strains. Surprisingly, most of these NPs expressed bacteriocidal and fungicidal potential. In silico molecular docking simulation suggested that the antibacterial activity may be related to the inhibition of DNA gyrase, cell wall synthesis (Upps and Fos A), and biofilm activity (PqsR).

Nickle-based half-sandwich complexes derived from N-heterocyclic carbene ligands are summarized. Their design, synthesis, characterization, and catalytic and electrocatalytic potentials have been reviewed. This study provides a new avenue for the potent design of active and stable nickel-based catalysts.

Diverse structural and catalytic features of half-sandwich nickel N–heterocyclic carbene (NHC) complexes provide an encouraging platform not only to address the drawbacks of other group X (palladium and platinum) metal NHC catalysts but also to bring about their superior performance. The chemistry of nickel NHC complexes has gained substantial interest from the organometallic community owing to their remarkable stability to air and moisture, easier preparation protocols, and availability of wide scope for structural fine tuning in order to achieve targeted applications. The recent progress in the field of half-sandwich nickel(0/II) NHC complexes is covered in this review article with a special emphasis on the different synthetic strategies employed, structural characterization including spectral and X-ray diffraction techniques, and surface morphology of the films of complexes. Both, homogeneous and electrocatalytic applications of half-sandwich nickel NHC complexes are discussed with respect to their potential in various C–C and C–S bond constructions, targeted C–H bond activations, reductions using silylating agents, electrocatalytic glucose sensing, and electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reactions. Donor functionalized complexes displayed improved catalytic potential in several C–C and C–S coupling reactions over non–functionalized counterparts. Overall, this assessment, from a comprehensive standpoint, affords evidence that is advantageous in the design of novel NHC ligands to access targeted half-sandwich nickel(0/II) NHC complexes encompassing potential homogeneous catalytic and electrocatalytic applications.