Metal complexes of 4-aminopyridine Schiff bases: Potent molecules in the design of anti-tuberculosis agents

Communication in Physical Sciences, 2023, 9(3):203-212 Authors: Dueke-Eze, Cordelia U., Fasina, Tolulope M. and Familoni, Oluwole B. Received: 10 February 2023/Accepted 20 May 2023 Tuberculosis (TB)  has remained a serious public health challenge and one of the most prevalent causes of death regarding infectious diseases, despite decades of relentless drug development research. The resurgence of TB is due to its prevalence in synergy with the AIDS epidemic and the rise of multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB. Therefore, finding new, effective bioactive agents to manage and treat the disease is a top priority. To discover a new and effective chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of TB, Cu(II), Ni(II) and Co(II) complexes of 4-aminopyridine-based Schiff bases have been synthesized, characterized based on melting point, elemental analyses, FT-IR, NMR, UV-vis and molar conductance. The spectra revealed that the Schiff base ligands act as a bidentate ligand through the azomethine nitrogen atom and a phenolic oxygen atom. The molar conductance measurements of the complexes in DMF correspond to non-electrolytic nature. The antituberculosis activity of the compounds using the proportion method revealed that the nitro-containing Cu(II) and Co(II) complexes exhibited enhanced in vitro antituberculosis activity compared with the ligands and reference compound (INH) at 0.1 μg/ml