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Review
. 2025 Jun;38(3):711-736.
doi: 10.1007/s10534-025-00683-9. Epub 2025 May 6.

Vanadium 8-hydroxyquinoline derivatives in medicine: current state and future outlook

Tahmineh Kohanfekr  1 , Camelia Gholamrezazadeh  2 , Hasan Ali Hosseini  2
Affiliations
Review

Vanadium 8-hydroxyquinoline derivatives in medicine: current state and future outlook

Tahmineh Kohanfekr et al. Biometals. 2025 Jun.

Abstract

Vanadium complexes featuring 8-hydroxyquinoline ligands and their derivatives have emerged as a promising class of compounds with potential therapeutic applications, particularly as antimicrobial and anticancer agents. This comprehensive review offers a timely and insightful analysis of the current landscape of vanadium complexes with HQ ligand or its derivatives, whether alone or in combination with organic coligands. This review covers synthetic strategies, and mechanisms that underlie their antibacterial and anticancer activities. A significant focus of this review is the thorough evaluation of the antibacterial and anticancer properties of these complexes, providing an invaluable resource for researchers in the interdisciplinary fields of inorganic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and drug discovery. By compiling and synthesizing the existing knowledge on vanadium-8-hydroxyquinoline (VO-8HQ) complexes, this review addresses a critical gap in the literature. Ongoing research, including rigorous preclinical and clinical evaluations, is essential for fully exploring the therapeutic potential of this promising class of metallodrugs.

Keywords: Antibacterial activity; Antibacterial and anticancer mechanisms; Anticancer activity; Synthetic strategies; Toxicity; Vanadium-8-hydroxyquinoline complexes.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests.

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