Despite the common use of salens and hydroxyquinolines as therapeutic and bioactive agents, their metal complexes are still under development. Here, we report the synthesis of novel mixed-ligand metal complexes (MSQ) comprising salen (S), derived from (2,2′-{1,2-ethanediylbis[nitrilo(E) methylylidene]}diphenol, and 8-hydroxyquinoline (Q) with Co(II), Ni(II), Cd(II), Al(III), and La(III). The structures and properties of these MSQ metal complexes were investigated using molar conductivity, melting point, FTIR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, UV–VIS, mass spectra, and thermal analysis. Quantum calculation, analytical, and experimental measurements seem to suggest the proposed structure of the compounds and its uncommon monobasic tridentate binding mode of salen via phenolic oxygen, azomethine group, and the NH group. The general molecular formula of MSQ metal complexes is [M(S)(Q)(H₂O)] for M (II) = Co, Ni, and Cd or [M(S)(Q)(Cl)] and [M(S)(Q)(H₂O)]Cl for M(III) = La and Al, respectively. Importantly, all prepared metal complexes were evaluated for their antimicrobial and anticancer activities. The metal complexes exhibited high cytotoxic potency against human breast cancer (MDA-MB231) and liver cancer (Hep-G2) cell lines. Among all MSQ metal complexes, CoSQ and LaSQ produced IC₅₀ values (1.49 and 1.95 µM, respectively) that were comparable to that of cisplatin (1.55 µM) against Hep-G2 cells, whereas CdSQ and LaSQ had best potency against MDA-MB231 with IC₅₀ values of 1.95 and 1.43 µM, respectively. Furthermore, the metal complexes exhibited significant antimicrobial activities against a wide spectrum of both Gram-positive and -negative bacterial and fungal strains. The antibacterial and antifungal efficacies for the MSQ metal complexes, the free S and Q ligands, and the standard drugs gentamycin and ketoconazole decreased in the order AlSQ > LaSQ > CdSQ > gentamycin > NiSQ > CoSQ > Q > S for antibacterial activity, and for antifungal activity followed the trend of LaSQ > AlSQ > CdSQ > ketoconazole > NiSQ > CoSQ > Q > S. Molecular docking studies were performed to investigate the binding of the synthesized compounds with breast cancer oxidoreductase (PDB ID: 3HB5). According to the data obtained, the most probable coordination geometry is octahedral for all the metal complexes. The molecular and electronic structures of the metal complexes were optimized theoretically, and their quantum chemical parameters were calculated. PXRD results for the Cd(II) and La(III) metal complexes indicated that they were crystalline in nature.

New 1,5-diarylpyrazole oxime hybrid derivatives (scaffolds A and B) were designed, synthesized, and then their purity was verified using a variety of spectroscopic methods. A panel of five cancer cell lines known to express EGFR and JNK-2, including human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line DLD-1, human cervical cancer cell line Hela, human leukemia cell line K562, human pancreatic cell line SUIT-2, and human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2, were used to biologically evaluate for their in vitro cytotoxicity for all the synthesized compounds 7a–j, 8a–j, 9a–c, and 10a–c. The oxime containing compounds 8a–j and 10a–c were more active as antiproliferative agents than their non-oxime congeners 7a–j and 9a–c. Compounds 8d, 8g, 8i, and 10c inhibited EGFR with IC₅₀ values ranging from 8 to 21 µM when compared with sorafenib. Compound 8i inhibited JNK-2 as effectively as sorafenib, with an IC₅₀ of 1.0 µM. Furthermore, compound 8g showed cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase in the cell cycle analysis of the Hela cell line, whereas compound 8i showed combined S phase and G2 phase arrest. According to docking studies, oxime hybrid compounds 8d, 8g, 8i, and 10c exhibited binding free energies ranging from −12.98 to 32.30 kcal/mol at the EGFR binding site whereas compounds 8d and 8i had binding free energies ranging from −9.16 to −12.00 kcal/mol at the JNK-2 binding site.

The title compound, C₂₄H₂₁N₃O₃, crystallizes with two unique but closely r.m.s. overlay fit = 0.215 Å) comparable molecules (1 and 2) in the asymmetric unit of the triclinic unit cell. In molecule 1, the dihedral angles between the central imidazlole ring and the benzene-ring substituents are 42.51 (9), 45.41 (9) and 56.92 (8)°, respectively. Comparable data for molecule 2 are 39.36 (10), 34.45 (11) and 60.34 (8)°, respectively. The rings at the 2-positions carryp-nitro substituents that subtend dihedral angles of 12.9 (4)° in molecule 1 and 11.7 (4)° in molecule 2 to their respective benzene ring planes. The imidazole rings also have propan-2-ol substituents on the 1-N atoms, which adopt extended conformations for the N—C—C—C chains. In the crystal, classical O—H...N hydrogen bonds combine with C—H...O, C—H...N and C—H...π(ring) hydrogen bonds and stack the molecules along thea-axis direction.

The title compound, C₂₄H₂₁ClN₂O, crystallizes with two unique molecules in the asymmetric unit. In each molecule, the central imidazole ring is substituted at the 2-, 4- and 5-positions by benzene rings. The 2-substituted ring carries a Cl atom at the 4-position. One of the imidazole N atoms in each molecule has a propan-2-ol substituent. In the crystal, a series of O—H...N, C—H...O and C—H...Cl hydrogen bonds, augmented by several C—H...π(ring) interactions, generate a three-dimensional network of molecules stacked along thea-axis direction.