The current research focuses on the treatment of Cr(III), Fe(III) and Cu(II) metal ions with aryl hydrazone ligand
named (E)-4-(((diphenylmethylene)hydrazono)methyl)benzene-1,3-diol (DPHB) to afford four novel solid complexes with high yields. Different characterization approaches, including infrared, UV–visible, and NMR spectroscopies, elemental analyses, and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), revealed that all mononuclear crystalline
metal chelates with good thermal stability had a six-coordination with octahedral geometry. Density Functional
Theory (DFT) computations were used and provided a reasonable explanation for these metal chelates’ electrical
and structural features. Furthermore, investigations of electronic absorption spectroscopy, hydrodynamics, and
electrophoresis demonstrated that these new compounds interact with calf thymus deoxyribonucleic acid (CTDNA) in a variety of ways. As a result, the Kb and ΔG∕=
b values of such interactions were in the following order:
DPHBCu > DPHBCr > DPHBFe complex. Additionally, the novel metal chelates have been studied antibathogenically and found to be significantly effective compared to the comparable DPHB hydrazone ligand.
The anti-proliferative activities of the investigated compounds were also evaluated against different lines of
cancer cells and exhibited significant cytotoxic activity. In addition, observations of antioxidant activity suggest
that antioxidant activity relative to ordinary ascorbic acid was demonstrated in the molecule.