Hydroxyflavone metal complexes - molecular structure, antioxidant activity and biological effects

High content of hydroxyflavones in fruits, vegetables, cereals and herbs makes them a common component of the human diet. Because of their antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer properties they still pay an attention of many scientific centers. Hydroxyflavones may form complexes with metal cations, and their chelating properties differ significantly depending on the number and position of hydroxyl substituents in the ring. Synthesis of new complexes of hydroxyflavones allows for improvement biological properties, stability, water-solubility, hydrophilicity, bioavailability comparing with the parent hydroxyflavones. It expands the applicability of hydroxyflavones as food additives, diet supplements, preservatives or drug. This paper reviews on the procedures of synthesis of metal complexes with hydroxyflavones, their molecular structure, mode of coordinations, spectroscopic properties and their biological activity. The dependency between the biological activity of these compounds and their molecular structure is discussed.