Hydrazine-derived salts: Unveiling their diverse potential through synthesis, characterization, pharmacology, and theoretical analysis

This study focuses on newly synthesized compounds derived from hydrazine derivatives, specifically methyl carbazate (MCZ, C₂H₆N₂O₂) and 2-thiobarbituric acid (2-TBA, C₄H₄N₂O₂S). The reaction between MCZ and 2-TBA resulted in the formation of three types of salts with the following compositions: [(C₂H₇N₂O₂)⁺(C₄H₃N₂O₂S)⁻ (1), (C₂H₇N₂O₂)⁺(C₄H₃N₂O₂S)⁻(C₂H₆N₂O₂) (2), and (C₂H₇N₂O₂)⁺(C₆H₁₆N)⁺(C₄H₃N₂O₂S)₂⁻ (3) [(C₆H₁₆N)⁺ represents the triethyl ammonium cation]. The prepared salts were comprehensively characterized, showing that compound (3) exhibited a monoclinic crystal structure and met Lipinski’s rules, indicating significant drug-like properties. Molecular docking analysis revealed that these compounds exhibited strong binding affinities toward bacterial proteins, particularly Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, indicating their potential as antibacterial agents. The synthesized compounds demonstrated remarkable free radical-scavenging abilities, as evidenced by DPPH assays. The results of pharmacological evaluations, including brine shrimp lethality assays, antibacterial tests, and anticancer studies on MCF-7 cell lines, revealed that the compounds exhibit highly significant activities, particularly cytotoxic effects, suggesting their potential as anticancer agents. The compound (3) emerged as the most effective anticancer agent against MCF-7 cells. These findings underscore the broad potential of these compounds, especially (3), as promising agents with significant antibacterial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities, suggesting that they may contribute to the field of medicinal chemistry with implications for therapeutic applications.