Impact of Fe(III) and Ce(III) ions on pharmacological properties of novel Schiff base ligand: Anticancer, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-fungal investigations from wallpaper, and computational insights

This study explores the synthesis, characterization, and biological investigations of Fe(III) and Ce(III) complexes from Schiff base ligand (H₂L) derived from 2-hydroxy-1-naphthaldehyde and L- histidine. The structure of H₂L and its metal complexes were characterized using elemental analysis, molar conductivities, magnetic moment, FT-IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C MNR, UV–visible, TGA, XRD, SEM, and particle size distribution. Optical studies show the synthesized compounds have a semiconductor nature. DFT was employed to optimize the proposed structure geometry of compounds, and the results reveal better thermodynamic and electronic stability. The antiviral, anticancer, antioxidant, and antifungal activities were evaluated for all synthesized compounds. The substances were initially examined for cytotoxicity using Vero cells derived from African green monkey kidney epithelial cells to ensure their biocompatibility and safety for further applications. Antiviral activity was assessed against three viruses (HSV-1, CV-B4, and Adeno-7) using Vero cells, showing promising inhibitory effects. Additionally, the compounds demonstrated significant antioxidant properties, as measured by the DPPH and ABTS⁺ methods. The antifungal activity was also evaluated against A. alternata, A. niger, C. cladiosporioides, Penicillium sp, Paecilomyces sp, and F. solani, which were isolated from Wallpaper. The molecular docking studies were performed to understand the interaction mechanism of the compounds with biological targets.