Transition metal complexes of hydrazones as potential antimicrobial and anticancer agents: A short review

Hydrazones display an interesting profile of biological activities, which includes mainly antimicrobial and antiproliferative properties. Hydrazones also play an important role in the synthesis of heterocyclic rings and in coordination chemistry. Currently, the synthesis of complexes of hydrazones with transition metals is quite frequently reported in the scientific literature. The interest in this topic is largely due to diverse biological activities of the metal complexes of hydrazones that in some cases are much more effective than hydrazones themselves. This review focuses on the complexes of hydrazones with transition metals which display antibacterial, antitubercular, antifungal and anticancer activities. In the following subchapters devoted to a given activity, an attempt has been made to present the most active complexes of hydrazones, their trends in their activity and application in medicinal chemistry. The paper presents the literature data from 2009 to 2023. This review constitutes a useful guide for the researchers who intend to synthesize and investigate complexes of hydrazones in terms of their antimicrobial and anticancer activities.