Targeting super bugs: metal complexes as emerging anti-microbial and anti-biofilm agents

Antimicrobial resistance has emerged as one of the major global health threats, driving the search for innovative strategies to combat chronic and recurring infections, particularly associated with biofilm formation. Biofilms confer strong tolerance to traditional antibiotics by shielding microbial communities within an extracellular matrix, posing significant challenges in clinical settings, especially in device-associated infections. Conventional antibiotics often fail to eradicate these complex biofilm structures, underscoring the need to explore alternative therapeutic strategies. Over the past decade, metal-based complexes have emerged as promising alternatives due to their unique modes of action and physicochemical properties. The integration of organic and inorganic chemistry, metal-ligand interactions in metal complexes, exhibits diverse mechanisms of action, including ROS production, enzyme inhibition, membrane cleavage and delayed resistance, representing a compelling frontier in addressing the global AMR crisis. This review highlights the dual role of metal complexes in antimicrobial and antibiofilm applications, with emphasis on silver, copper, palladium, gold, zinc, ruthenium, platinum and other complexes, reinforcing their potential as next-generation therapeutic antimicrobials.