Evaluation of the antiviral activities of Schiff bases derived from aminoadamantanes and their Ag+, Pd2+ and Pt2+ metal complexes

• Grant number: 24/16650-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Inorganic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Pedro Paulo Corbi
• Grantee: Laura Barros Silva
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The growing demand for new alternatives in the treatment of infectious diseases makes the search for new drugs with antiviral properties extremely important. Modifying existing drugs or combining them with other species that are equally active on microorganisms is a good strategy for obtaining new agents with potential clinical use. Amantadine, memantine and rimantadine are drugs from the aminoadamantanes class with recognized medicinal activities, with applications for the treatment of illnesses ranging from Alzheimer's disease to infections caused by the Influenza A virus. Schiff bases are compounds formed by the reaction between amines and carbonyls, and have a wide range of applications, including medicine, with well-established activity against different types of cancer, diabetes, fungi, bacteria and viruses. The versatility of Schiff bases is also present in coordination chemistry, with emphasis on the preparation of metal complexes with a wide field of applications. Metals, on the other hand, have been used in medicine for centuries, but the study of the pharmacological properties of metal complexes became more robust after the discovery of the antitumor activities of cisplatin in the 1960s. Recently, complexes containing the metal ions Ag+, Pd2+ and Pt2+ have been recognized for their promising antimicrobial activities. Recent publications from our research group point to complexes containing these metals and ligands of the aminoadamantane class as potential antiviral agents. Thus, in this project, novel complexes of Ag+, Pd2+ and Pt2+ containing Schiff bases derived from aminoadamantane will be prepared, characterized by a series of chemical and spectroscopic analyses, and evaluated for their antiviral activities. The compounds will initially have their antiviral action evaluated against arboviruses that cause Zika, Chikungunya and Mayaro fever, in line with the experience of our group at IQ/UNICAMP and of collaborating researchers both in Brazil and abroad. Finally, the mode of action of such complexes will be investigated by biophysical assays with biomolecules, such as nucleotides and proteins, based on our group's experience of more than a decade in this field of research.