{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T20:36:29Z","timestamp":1790282189577,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,26]],"date-time":"2025-05-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748217600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Antibiotic resistance is a problem repeatedly reported by health authorities. Metalloantibiotics, i.e., biologically active compounds containing one or more metal ions, can be an important resource in the fight against bacteria and fungi. Here, we report the results obtained with a panel of copper(II), nickel(II) and zinc(II) complexes with thiosemicarbazone, semicarbazone and acylhydrazone ligands on Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans, taken as model systems of human pathogens. To increase the solubility in water, the sulfonic group was introduced on some of the ligands, isolating them as sodium salts (NaH2L4-NaH2L7). Complexes 1\u201314 were isolated, fully characterized and the X-ray structures of 11, 12 and 13 were obtained. While all the ligands have no antimicrobial activity, the copper(II) complexes 1 and 4 and the nickel(II) complex 2, obtained from thiosemicarbazone ligands, showed good activity, in particular against S. aureus; these complexes were investigated in depth, calculating their respective IC50 values (4.2 \u03bcM, 3.5 \u03bcM and 61.8 \u03bcM, respectively). It should be noted that nickel(II) complex 2 does not show hemolytic activity and has a favorable SI value. While all the copper(II) complexes completely degraded the plasmid DNA in presence of H2O2, nickel(II) complex 2 cleaved the plasmid DNA leading to the formation of the relaxed nicked conformation, thus suggesting a different mechanism of action.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules30112329","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,27]],"date-time":"2025-05-27T05:52:52Z","timestamp":1748325172000},"page":"2329","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Antimicrobial Activity of Copper(II), Nickel(II) and Zinc(II) Complexes with Semicarbazone and Thiosemicarbazone Ligands Derived from Substituted Salicylaldehydes"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"30","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9761-7247","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessio","family":"Zavaroni","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17\/A, 43124 Parma, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9875-9765","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Luca","family":"Rigamonti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via G. Campi 103, 41125 Modena, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9165-0356","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Franco","family":"Bisceglie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17\/A, 43124 Parma, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5888-4556","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mauro","family":"Carcelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17\/A, 43124 Parma, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7946-0602","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giorgio","family":"Pelosi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17\/A, 43124 Parma, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giovanna Angela","family":"Gentilomi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy"},{"name":"Microbiology Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2295-5783","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dominga","family":"Rogolino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 17\/A, 43124 Parma, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8101-9835","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francesca","family":"Bonvicini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"545","DOI":"10.1007\/s10534-023-00565-y","article-title":"The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Metals as Antimicrobials","volume":"37","author":"Turner","year":"2024","journal-title":"BioMetals"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Waters, J.E., Stevens-Cullinane, L., Siebenmann, L., and Hess, J. 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