Synthesis, crystal structure and urease inhibitory activities of Schiff base metal complexes

Six new transition metal complexes (1–6) with Schiff base were synthesized and crystallographically characterized. Their urease inhibitory activities were evaluated. Three of them showed potent inhibitions against jack bean urease. Mn(II) complex (2) possessed the best jbU inhibitory activity with IC50 of 8.30 ± 0.93 μM, which was much better than those of the corresponding ligand and control ion. The investigation on the stability constants and the structure-activity relationships of the complexes indicated that the complexes interacted with the enzyme in the whole complex forms rather than the free ions.