Palladium coordination compounds as anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-microbial and anti-tumor agents

Pd(II) complexes of various donor atom ligands posses anti-tumor and anti-viral, -malarial, -fungal and -microbial activities. This review focuses on such properties of Pd(II) complexes and makes comparisons with similar properties of other metals. In the first part, the anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-microbial activities of new Pd(II) complexes are described, classified according to the ligands used, namely; sulfur donors, ligands used as drugs, Schiff bases ligands and miscellaneous. The second part describes the anti-tumor properties of new Pd(II) complexes, similarly classified with sulfur and nitrogen and other donor ligands. The results are summarized in 1st and 2nd tables in this article which also contain all Pd(II) complexes described in Ref. [A. Garoufis, S.K. Hadjikakou, N. Hadjiliadis, in: M. Gielen, E.R.T. Tiekink (Eds.), Metals in Medicine, Palladium (Pd), in Metallotherapeutic Drugs and Metal-based Diagnostic Agents: The Use of Metals in Medicine, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2005, p. 399 (Chapter 21)] for comparison and clearly demonstrate the anti-tumor, anti-fungal, -viral, -microbial properties of several of them, as compared to those of other metals and especially to those of cisplatin. These promising results are encouraging further research in this field, for future applications.