Emerging trends and structure–activity insights of Schiff base–lanthanide complexes as antibacterial agents

The rapid escalation of microbial resistance has accelerated the search for next-generation antibacterial agents with novel mechanisms of action. Schiff bases and their lanthanide complexes have emerged as promising candidates due to their tunable structures, coordination versatility and enhanced bioactivity upon metal binding. While earlier reviews laid the foundational understanding of antibacterial activity of Schiff bases and their metal complexes, this review advances the field by offering a data-driven, mechanistically informed and structure-activity-focused perspective on the most recent antibacterial findings (2018-2025) of Schiff bases and their Ln(iii) complexes. In this review article, we critically…