Protein aggregation, their mechanisms and trends in the field of neurodegenerative diseases is still far from completely being decoded. It is mainly attributed to the complexity surrounding the interaction between proteins which includes various regulatory mechanisms involved with the presentation of abnormal conditions. Although most proteins are functional in their soluble form, they have also been reported to convert themselves into insoluble aggregates under certain conditions naturally. Misfolded protein forms aggregates which are mostly unwanted by the cellular system and are mostly involved in various pathophysiologies including Alzheimer’s, Type II Diabetes mellitus, Kurus’s etc. Challenges lie in understanding the complex mechanism of protein misfolding and its correlation with clinical evidence. It is often understood that due to the slowness of the process and its association with ageing, timely intervention with drugs or preventive measures will play an essential role in lowering the rate of dementia causing diseases and associated ailments in the future. Today approximately more than 35 proteins have been identified capable of forming amyloids under defined conditions, and nearly all of them have been associated with disease outcomes. This review incorporates a major understanding from the history of diseases associated with protein misfolding, to the current state of neurodegenerative diseases globally, highlighting challenges in drug development and current state of research in a comprehensive manner in the field of protein misfolding diseases. There is increasing clinical association of protein misfolding with regards to amyloids compelling us to thread questions solved and further helping us design possible solutions by generating a pathway-based research on which future work in this field could be driven.

Four new complexes [Ag₂(4-mpipdtc)₂(PPh₃)₂] (1), [Cu(4-mpipdtc)₂] (2), [Co(4-mpipdtc)₃]·CHCl₃ (3) and [PhHg(4-mpipdtc)] (4) and two new products, bis(4-methyl piperidinethiocarbonyl) disulfide {(4-mpipdtc)₂} (5) and (4-methyl-piperidin-1-yl) carbothioylsulfanyl-methyl (4-methyl)-piperidine-1-carbodithioate {CH₂(4-mpipdtc)₂} (6) have been obtained in this study. The syntheses of compounds 5 and 6 were assisted by Mn(II) and Ag(I) ions, respectively, and were obtained from potassium 4-methyl-piperidine-carbodithioate {K⁺(4-mpipdtc)⁻} {where, 4-mpipdtc⁻ = 4-methyl piperidine carbodithioate}. All new compounds have been characterized by elemental analyses, IR, NMR, magnetic susceptibility and single X-ray crystallography techniques. These compounds are stabilized by intermolecular C–H⋯S, S⋯S, C–H⋯π and C–H⋯N interactions. The most interesting feature in complex 4 is that the ligand bound phenylmercury cation is stabilized via intermolecular as well as intramolecular Hg⋯S secondary interactions. Compounds 3 and 5 are highly fluorescent in a solution when compared to the free ligand and emit violet/violet-blue light at 372 and 413 nm upon excitation at 328 and 300 nm, respectively. The course of the thermal degradation of complexes 1–4 have been investigated by TG-DTA, which indicates that metal sulphide is formed as the final residue. The results obtained from the electronic structure calculations at the density functional theory level corroborate our experimental findings obtained from the IR data. Frontier molecular orbital analysis reveals that complexes 1 and 3 are softer and more reactive than complexes 2 and 4. Cyclic voltammetry shows that complex 2 exhibits a reversible Cu(II)/Cu(I) redox process at 0.515 V, whereas the ligand and complexes 1, 3 and 4 show irreversible redox behaviour.

Synthesized Ni( ii ) complexes have remarkable cytotoxic potential against K562 cancer cells and have better electrochemical water oxidation response than RuO ₂ . Among complexes 1, 2, and 3, complex-2 shows a better water oxidation response.

Complexes of Co(iii) (1), Ni(ii) (2), Cu(ii) (3), and Zn(ii) (4) derived from an N-(4-fluorobenzyl) N-(pyridin-2-ylmethyl) dithiocarbamate ligand. Complex 3 showed maximum reduction in clonidine-induced catalepsy after 180 minutes of treatment.