This review on polymorphism is a personal, non-comprehensive view on the field of polymorphism – a term which is often misused. Indeed, the discussion about polymorphism and related terms is still ongoing in the area of crystal engineering. This is why we felt it timely to look into the historical development of its definition and to delimit it. A short introduction to thermodynamic aspects and characterization methods of polymorphs is given. One chapter is then dedicated to polymorphism of elements and inorganic compounds, before discussing the term for organic and organo-metallic compounds. Chosen examples are given each time to illustrate the cases of polymorphism. In the end, the conclusion yields three flow schemes useful in determining polymorphism for each compound class.

4-(p-X-phenyl)thiosemicarbazone of napthaldehyde {where X = Cl (HL¹) and X = Br (HL²)}, thiosemicarbazone of quinoline-2-carbaldehyde (HL³) and 4-(p-fluorophenyl)thiosemicarbazone of salicylaldehyde (H₂L⁴) and their copper(I) {[Cu(HL¹)(PPh₃)₂Br]·CH₃CN (1) and [Cu(HL²)(PPh₃)₂Cl]·DMSO (2)} and copper(II) {[(Cu₂L³ ₂Cl)₂(μ-Cl)₂]·2H₂O (3) and [Cu(L⁴)(Py)] (4)} complexes are reported herein. The synthesized ligands and their copper complexes were successfully characterized by elemental analysis, cyclic voltammetry, NMR, ESI-MS, IR and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Molecular structures of all the Cu(I) and Cu(II) complexes have been determined by X-ray crystallography. All the complexes (1–4) were tested for their ability to exhibit DNA-binding and -cleavage activity. The complexes effectively interact with CT-DNA possibly by groove binding mode, with binding constants ranging from 10⁴ to 10⁵ M⁻¹. Among the complexes, 3 shows the highest chemical (60%) as well as photo-induced (80%) DNA cleavage activity against pUC19 DNA. Finally, the in vitro antiproliferative activity of all the complexes was assayed against the HeLa cell line. Some of the complexes have proved to be as active as the clinical referred drugs, and the greater potency of 3 may be correlated with its aqueous solubility and the presence of the quinonoidal group in the thiosemicarbazone ligand coordinated to the metal.

We have prepared a series of ten 3-arylcoumarin molecules, their respective fac-[Re(CO)₃(bpy)L]⁺ and fac-[Re(CO)₃(L⁀L)Br] complexes and tested all compounds for their antimicrobial efficacy. Whereas the 3-arylcoumarin ligands are virtually inactive against the human-associated pathogens with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) > 150 μM, when coordinated to the fac-[Re(CO)₃]⁺ core, most of the resulting complexes showed remarkable antibacterial potency. Several rhenium complexes exhibit activity in nanomolar concentrations against Gram-positive pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus strains, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and Enterococcus faecium. The molecules do not affect bacterial cell membrane potential, but some of the most potent complexes strongly interact with DNA, indicating it as a possible target for their mode of action. In vivo studies in the zebrafish model showed that the complexes with anti-staphylococcal/MRSA activity were non-toxic to the organism even at much higher doses of the corresponding MICs. In the zebrafish-MRSA infection model, the complexes increased the survival rate of infected fish up to 100% and markedly reduced bacterial burden. Moreover, all rescued fish developed normally following the treatments with the metallic compounds.

The study of DNA/BSA interaction and the catalytic potential of four mononuclear oxidoalkoxido vanadium(V) [V^VO(L^1–4)OEt] (1–4) and one dinuclear oxidoalkoxido mixed-ligand vanadium(V) [{VO(L²)OEt}₂(Q)]{Q = 4,4′-bipyridine}(5) complexes, with tridentate binegative aroylazine ligands are reported [where H₂L¹ = anthranylhydrazone of 2-hydroxy-1-napthaldehyde, H₂L² = salicylhydrazone of 2-hydroxy-1-napthaldehyde, H₂L³ = benzoylhydrazone of 2-hydroxy-1-acetonaphthone, H₂L⁴ = anthranylhydrazone of 2-hydroxy-1-acetonaphthone]. All the complexes are characterized by elemental analysis as well as various spectroscopic techniques. Single crystal X-ray diffraction crystallography of 2 reveals that the metal centre is in distorted square pyramidal geometry with O₄N coordination spheres, whereas 5 exhibits a distorted octahedral geometry around the metal center. In addition, all the complexes (1–5) show moderate DNA binding propensity which is investigated using UV-vis absorption titration, circular dichroism, thermal denaturation and fluorescence spectral studies. The experimental results show that the complexes effectively interact with CT-DNA through both minor and major groove binding modes, with binding constants ranging from 10⁴−10⁵ M⁻¹. Among 1–5, complexes 3 and 4 show higher binding affinity towards CT-DNA than others and at the same time also exhibit negative ΔT_m values of about ∼1.5 and 1.0 °C which resembles the properties shown by cisplatin. All complexes show moderate photo-induced cleavage of pUC19 supercoiled plasmid DNA with complex 3 showing the highest photo induced DNA cleavage activity of ∼48%. In coherence with the DNA interaction studies, 3 and 4 also exhibit good binding affinity towards BSA in the range of 10¹⁰−10¹¹ M⁻¹, which is also supported by their ability to quench the tryptophan fluorescence emission spectra of BSA. All the complexes show remarkable photo-induced BSA cleavage activity (>90%) at a complex concentration of 50 μM. The catalytic potential of 1–5 is also tested for the oxidative bromination of styrene, salicylaldehyde and oxidation of methyl phenyl sulphide. All the reactions show a high percentage of conversion (>90%) with a high turnover frequency (TOF). Particularly, in the oxidative bromination of styrene the percentage of conversion and TOF vary from 96–98% and 8000–19 600 (h⁻¹) respectively, which signifies the potential of these oxidovanadium(V) complexes to stimulate research for the synthesis of a better catalyst.