Synthesis, characterization, antimicrobial, molecular docking simulation, and antitumor assays of nanometric complexes based on new thiazole Schiff base derivative

Abstract

For further pharmaceutical applications, a novel Schiff base derivative of aminothiazole and its Co (II), Cu (II), Zn (II), and Th (IV) chelates were designed and prepared. For this purpose, 2‐aminothiazole and 2,4‐dihydroxybenzaldehyde have been coupled before the complexation reaction with the metal salts. Elemental analysis, FT‐IR, 1HNMR, UV–Vis spectra, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD), molar conductance, and magnetic moment measurements were used to determine the structural formula of the ligand and its produced chelates. The acquired data pointed out that the ligand was chelated with metal through the nitrogen of azo group and deprotonated ortho phenolic oxygen atoms. In Cu (II) complex the copper ion chelated with two ligand molecules, whereas in other complexes the metal binds with one molecule only of ligand. It was shown by XRD patterns and high‐resolution TEM images that the complex particles had a uniform distribution across the chelates' surfaces and were nanometric in size. Extremely, antimicrobial and anticancer activity for the prepared ligand and complexes were investigated, which showed high activity, especially after complex formation. Docking studies have been performed to predict the compounds' efficacy as antitumor agents through their interaction with the co‐crystal structure of proteins for breast cancer cells (PDB ID: 3S7S) and protein of liver cancer 2 (PDB ID: 2JW2). The experimental results of the anticancer activity showed promising results, especially for Cu (II) compound which exhibited the greatest antitumor efficacy (IC50 = 12.81 μg/ml) contra HepG‐2 carcinoma and Mcf‐7 cells (IC50 = 18.92 ± 0.91 μg/ml). Antimicrobial activity against the strains Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae), Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis), C. albicans (C. albicans), and Aspergillus niger (A. niger) also gave very promising results when it is compared with the standard drugs.