Organic Sulfur Derivatives and Their Metal Complexes as Promising Pharmacologically Active Compounds

Abstract

The mechanism of biological activity of various sulfur-containing compounds and sulfur fragments of both natural and synthetic origins is presented. Unique characteristics of organosulfur compounds that are present in natural plant products are considered to reveal the most efficient sulfur components of the natural origin. An insufficient efficiency of the pharmacological action of plant raw materials and undesirable effects indisputably confirm the topical character of research on the preparation of modified analogs of natural biologically active sulfur-containing compounds. The modern data on the development of new polytopic organosulfur compounds combining different redox-active functional groups in the structure, which should favor their efficiency and a decrease in side manifestations, are reviewed. Sulfur-containing metal complexes with antimicrobial, antiviral, and anticancer properties are among the most promising pharmacologically active compounds. In spite of the success achieved in this field of chemistry, the preparation of new target-oriented biodrugs based on bioessential metals (Cu, Zn, Se) and biomimetic organosulfur fragments remains to be an urgent problem. The developments in this direction should favor to understand mechanisms of the therapeutic action of new drugs and to prepare drugs of the new generation followed by their implementation in clinical practice.