The antioxidative capacity and structure–activity relationships of ten Schiff bases were investigated experimentally and theoretically. All compounds contain the aniline moiety, while the aldehyde part is either salicylaldehyde or vanillin. The DPPH assay was used to test the potential antioxidative activity of these compounds, and DFT study was used to investigate their electronic structures and provide insight into their structure–activity relationships. The effect of the position of the hydroxy, as well other groups present, on the antioxidative activity was examined. The possible radical scavenging mechanism was determined in polar (water and methanol), and nonpolar (benzene) solvents. Based on the experimental and computational results, compounds 7 and 8 exhibit the highest radical scavenging properties.

Compounds from the plant world that possess antioxidant abilities are of special importance for the food and pharmaceutical industry. Coumarins are a large, widely distributed group of natural compounds, usually found in plants, often with good antioxidant capacity. The coumarin-hydroxybenzohydrazide derivatives were synthesized using a green, one-pot protocol. This procedure includes the use of an environmentally benign mixture (vinegar and ethanol) as a catalyst and solvent, as well as very easy isolation of the desired products. The obtained compounds were structurally characterized by IR and NMR spectroscopy. The purity of all compounds was determined by HPLC and by elemental microanalysis. In addition, these compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antioxidant activity. Mechanisms of antioxidative activity were theoretically investigated by the density functional theory approach and the calculated values of various thermodynamic parameters, such as bond dissociation enthalpy, proton affinity, frontier molecular orbitals, and ionization potential. In silico calculations indicated that hydrogen atom transfer and sequential proton loss–electron transfer reaction mechanisms are probable, in non-polar and polar solvents respectively. Additionally, it was found that the single-electron transfer followed by proton transfer was not an operative mechanism in either solvent. The conducted tests indicate the excellent antioxidant activity, as well as the low potential toxicity, of the investigated compounds, which makes them good candidates for potential use in food chemistry.

Four trans chelate N,O-palladium(II) complexes were synthetized starting from salicylaldehyde anil Schiff bases, as ligands. Their structures were elucidated using experimental and theoretical tools. The structures of the theoretically possible cis isomers are examined using the DFT method. The biological activity, in vitro cytotoxic and prooxidative effects against human breast carcinoma MDA-MB-231, human colon carcinoma HCT-116, and human fibroblast healthy MRC-5 cell lines of investigated compounds were determined. Schiff bases show a moderate or weak cytotoxic effect. On the other hand, complexes Pd-1 and Pd-6 show a significant cytotoxic effect on all three cell lines, with IC₅₀ values in the range of 0.6 to 17.1 μM on HCT-116 cells, 7.2 to 55.6 μM on MDA-MB-231 cells and 34.5 to 48.1 μM on MRC-5 cells. Also, Pd-1 and Pd-6 induce extreme oxidative stress in the all treated cell lines. At this stage of investigation, Pd-1 and Pd-6 showed no selectivity towards cancer cells, i.e. they were also cytotoxic to MRC-5 cells to a similar extent. Taking into account these facts, it could be further investigated how the most active substances impact on the type of cell death (apoptotic and/or necrotic pathways).