Schiff Bases and Their Metal Complexes: Synthesis, Structural Characteristics and Applications

The development of Schiff base was a major step forward in the area of coordination chemistry. Schiff bases, a class of organic compounds, carry the imine or azomethine (>C=N–) functional group. Schiff bases played an influencing role in the development of coordination chemistry and were a key point in the development of inorganic, bioinorganic chemistry and optical materials. Schiff bases, widely used in inorganic, organic, and analytical chemistry, account for a significant portion of the more commonly employed classes of organic molecules. The ability of Schiff base ligands to form stable metal complexes with a wide range of transition and other metal ions makes them extremely useful. Condensation of a primary amine with an aldehyde or ketone yields a Schiff bases. In this chapter, we focused on introducing Schiff bases, classified them and their metal complexes, and discussed several synthesis methods, including conventional and green approaches. This chapter also elaborated on the industries’ applications, such as the food industry, agrochemical industry, dye industry, analytical chemistry, catalysis, energy storage, environmental, chemo-sensing, bio-sensing, and biomedical applications of novel Schiff bases and their metal complexes.