Silver(I) and copper(II) metal complexes with Schiff bases derived from mafenide and ethylmafenide: synthesis, characterization and evaluation of antibacterial and antitumour activities

• Grant number: 24/21531-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: March 10, 2025
• End date: July 29, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Inorganic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Pedro Paulo Corbi
• Grantee: Maria Paula Dias Carneiro Miguel
• Supervisor: Raphael Enoque Ferraz de Paiva
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Donostia International Physics Center, Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/03267-2 - Metal complexes of silver(I) and copper(II) with Schiff bases derived from mafenide and ethylmafenide: synthesis, characterization, and evaluation of their antibacterial and antitumor activities, BP.MS

Abstract

Bacterial infections remain a significant public health concern, due to the high incidence of these diseases and the growing challenge of multidrug-resistant bacterial strains. The lack of effective treatment options contributes to the persistence of these infections. At the same time, there is an increasing global focus on finding alternatives for treating skin tumours, as surgical removal is the primary treatment. In this context, the development of new metallopharmaceuticals has received special attention. Such class of compounds combine metal ions, known for their well-established biological effects (such as Cu(II) and Ag(I)), with organic ligands that may have existing therapeutic properties. Numerous metal-based complexes, including those with sulfonamide ligands, have been investigated for their antimicrobial and antitumor activities.In this sense, the current project involves the synthesis of novel Schiff base complexes with two sulfonamides: mafenide (the active ingredient in the antibacterial drug Sulfamylon®) and ethyl-mafenide, a structurally similar compound. The synthesized complexes were characterized by chemical and spectroscopic techniques, and their activities were primarily evaluated against bacterial strains and tumour cell lines. For this project, the interactions of the compounds with key biomolecules, including DNA and proteins, to identify potential biological targets, will be executed during this internship. Techniques such as fluorescence, gel electrophoresis, nuclear magnetic resonance, mass spectrometry and circular dichroism will be employed to analyse the interactions and evaluate the therapeutic potential of the novel metallopharmaceuticals candidates.