Coordination of Co(II) (1), Fe(III) (2) and UO2(IV) (3) with N,N′-bis(2-methoxybenzylidene)ethylenediamine Schiff base is structurally characterized using different spectroscopic and thermal studies. The reported compounds are examined as antimicrobial agents by screening their biological interactions; they showed enhanced antimicrobial activity compared with that of the free ligand. The cytotoxicity of the prepared compounds against L929 mouse fibroblasts and HEK 293 cells is determined by the MTT assay. The cytotoxic behavior is investigated for their possible use in tracking of cells and tissues. As observed in the in vitro assay, the complexes exhibited a low extent of cytotoxicity on the selected cells; they displayed remarkable potential viability compared with the same cells treated with the salen Schiff base. The cytotoxicity of the uranyl complex is lower than that of the other prepared complexes at a defined concentration, which indicates a synergistic effect upon coordination to the uranium ion. This study reveals that metal ions have quite an important role in the cytotoxicity. The results revealed that coordination may be considered as an interesting strategy to significantly reduce the cytotoxic dose, which may help to overcome the limitations of use of any metal and to understand their metabolism in living beings. In this work, the variation in chemical and coordination behaviour that has successfully enabled the integration of the target candidates into biological environments, which allows further in vivo developments in therapeutical and medical fields is discussed.
