Synthesis, structural characterization, and biological evaluation of a bioactive strontium (II)-mefenamic acid...

Metal-based coordination complexes of existing drugs, a step towards to natural system, are gaining the attention of scientists due to their boosted pharmaceutical outcomes with minimal side effect on health. The new mononuclear strontium (Sr) complex of mefenamic acid (Mef) and triethylamine (TEA), [Sr(mef)₂(TEA)₂].4H₂O was manufactured and characterized by using Elemental analysis, UV-VIS spectra, FTIR, SEM-EDX,¹H and ¹³C NMR, TGA, and PXRD. Its free radical scavenging and metal chelating potential of the synthesized compound was assessed by five different in vitro antioxidant assays, while in vivo activities evaluated the anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anxiolytic activities. The studied complex contained Sr(II) metal, which is coordinated to two mefenamato ligands through one oxygen atom of each and two TEA through their nitrogen atoms. In the studied complex, Mef acts as monodentate ligand, and TEA serves as auxiliary ligand. The complex exhibited potent antioxidant activities especially lowest IC₅₀ = 5.6 μM for iron-reducing assay, significant anti-inflammatory response (P < 0.001), and strong analgesic effect (P < 0.0001) compared to the free ligand. In-silico ADMET study showed safe drug profiling for Sr-complex than only ligand and biological prediction of biological activities by PASS online webserver further confirmed the better bioactivities ((Pa > Pi) of pharmacological relevance. With further molecular insight, the synthesized complex may serve as promising lead compound for anti-inflammatory drug development.