Schiff bases are condensation products of primary amines with carbonyl compounds gaining importance day by day in present scenario. Schiff bases are the compounds carrying imine or azomethine (–C=N–) functional group and are found to be a versatile pharmacophore for design and development of various bioactive lead compounds. Schiff bases exhibit useful biological activities such anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antimicrobial, anticonvulsant, antitubercular, anticancer, antioxidant, anthelmintic, antiglycation, and antidepressant activities. Schiff bases are also used as catalysts, pigments and dyes, intermediates in organic synthesis, polymer stabilizers, and corrosion inhibitors. The present review summarizes information on the diverse biological activities and also highlights the recently synthesized numerous Schiff bases as potential bioactive core. 1. Introduction Schiff bases are the compounds carrying imine or azomethine (–C=N–) functional group. These are the condensation products of primary amines with carbonyl compounds and were first reported by Hugo Schiff [1–3]. Schiff bases form an important class of the most widely used organic compounds and have a wide variety of applications in many fields including analytical, biological, and inorganic chemistry. Schiff bases have gained importance in medicinal and pharmaceutical fields due to a broad spectrum of biological activities like anti-inflammatory [4–7], analgesic [5–8], antimicrobial [9, 10], anticonvulsant [11], antitubercular [12], anticancer [13, 14], antioxidant [15], anthelmintic [16], and so forth. The nitrogen atom of azomethine may be involved in the formation of a hydrogen bond with the active centers of cell constituents and interferes in normal cell processes [17, 18]. Apart from biological activities, Schiff bases are also used as catalysts, intermediates in organic synthesis, dyes, pigments, polymer stabilizers [3], and corrosion inhibitors [19]. Studies enlightened that metal complexes show greater biological activity than free organic compounds [20]. Augmentation of biological activity was reported by implementation of transition metals into Schiff bases [21]. Schiff bases played an influencing role in development of coordination chemistry and were involved as key point in the development of inorganic biochemistry and optical materials [22]. Schiff bases have been utilized as synthons in the preparation of a number of industrial and biologically active compounds like formazans, 4-thiazolidinines, benzoxazines, and so forth, via ring closure, cycloaddition, and replacement
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