A series of six cis-dioxomolybdenum(VI) complexes with thiosemicarbazone ligands was synthesized and characterized. The ligands were obtained by reacting ethyl thiosemicarbazide with salicylaldehydes substituted with a selection of electron-withdrawing and electron-donating groups. The crystal structures, IR, NMR spectroscopic data and oxygen atom transfer activities of the complexes revealed that the electronic effects of the substituents located in the para-position of the phenolate donor are transmitted through to the molybdenum center, as reflected by linear relationships between Hammett constants and key properties of the complexes, including the molybdenum–phenolate bond lengths and the coordination shift of the imine proton resonance. Compared with the unsubstituted catalyst, electron-withdrawing substituents increase the rate of oxygen atom transfer from dimethyl sulfoxide to triphenylphosphine, whereas electron-donating groups have the opposite effect. The highest rate enhancement was achieved through the introduction of a strongly electron-withdrawing NO₂ substituent in the p-position of the phenolate donor.

Mono- and disaccharide-functionalised conjugates of the fluoroquinolone antibiotic ciprofloxacin have been synthesised and used as chemical probes of the bacterial uptake of glycosylated ciprofloxacin. Their antimicrobial activities against a panel of clinically relevant bacteria were determined: the ability of these conjugates to inhibit their target DNA gyrase and to be transported into the bacteria was assessed by using in vivo and in vitro assays. The data suggest a lack of active uptake through sugar transporters and that although the addition of monosaccharides is compatible with the inhibition of DNA gyrase, the addition of a disaccharide results in a significant decrease in antimicrobial activity.

Nonpurine xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) inhibitors represent important alternatives to the purine analogue allopurinol, which is still the most widely used drug in the treatment of conditions associated with elevated uric acid levels in the blood. By condensing mono-, di- and trihydroxybenzaldehydes with aromatic thiosemicarbazides, aryl hydrazides and dithiocarbazates, three series of structurally related Schiff bases were synthesised, characterised and tested for XOR inhibitory activity. Hydroxy substitution in the para-position of the benzaldehyde component was found to confer high inhibitory activities. Acyl hydrazones were generally less potent than thiocarbonyl-containing Schiff bases. Within the thiosemicarbazone series, chloro and cyano substituents in the para-position of the thiosemicarbazide unit increased activities further, up to potencies approximately four-times higher than that of the benchmark allopurinol, as measured under the same assay conditions. In order to illustrate the potential of the Schiff bases to bind directly to the molybdenum centre in the active site of the enzyme, a representative example (H₂L) of each inhibitor series was co-ordinated to a cis-dioxomolybdenum(VI) unit, and the resulting complexes, [MoO₂(L)MeOH], were structurally characterised. Subsequent steady-state kinetic investigations, however, indicated mixed-type inhibition, similar to that observed for inhibitors known to bind within the substrate access channel of the enzyme, remote from the Mo centre. Enzyme co-crystallisation studies are thus required to determine the exact binding mode. Finally, the coordination of representative inhibitors to copper(II) gave rise to significantly decreased IC₅₀ values, revealing an additive effect that merits further investigation.