The Evaluation of Metal Co-ordinating Bis-Thiosemicarbazones as Potential Anti-malarial Agents.

Bis-thiosemicarbazones containing a central pyridyl core display potent antimalarial activity in vitro. The absence of the pyridyl core results in inactive compounds. It is likely that metal ion sequestration and subsequent reactive oxygen generation plays a role in the antimalarial activity of the series, the redox activity of the iron complexes of bis-thiosemicarbazones paralleling antimalarial activity. The activity of this series compares favourably to that of previously reported iron sequestering compounds.