The present article describes the development of the Inorganic Chemistry in Brazil in the last 15 years, using as starting point the scientific contributions of a group of 405 researchers selected among the members of the Inorganic Chemistry Division of the Brazilian Chemical Society (SBQ), and active participants of both SBQ Annual Meetings and Brazilian Meetings on Inorganic Chemistry. A total of 3006 articles, representative of the Brazilian scientific production on Inorganic Chemistry from 2002 to January 2017, was analyzed. Among the various aspects evaluated are: prevalent research topics, production impact, geographic distribution within Brazil, international collaborations, and human resource background, development, and perspectives. The evolution of the Inorganic Chemistry production in Brazil in the last 15 years was analyzed considering the concurrent expansion of Brazilian graduate and post-graduate educational system along with availability of funding resources. Information from sources such as CAPES, Sucupira database, eMEC, Web of Science, and CNPq, complemented the scientific production data gathered from the Curriculum Vitae (Lattes Curriculum database) of the 405 representative inorganic chemistry researchers. The present analysis expands the previous 1977-2001 study by Toma, Ferreira, and Serra (Quim. Nova 2002, 25, 66), depicting, thus, a 40-year scenery of Inorganic Chemistry in Brazil, which overlaps with the period of activity of SBQ.

Oxindóis são compostos endógenos encontrados em fluidos e tecidos de mamíferos. Particularmente, isatina (1H-indol-2,3-diona) e seus derivados vêm mostrando uma grande variedade de efeitos no meio biológico, incluindo a inibição de monoamina oxidase, atividade bactericida, fungicida, antiviral e antiproliferativa. Pesquisas mais recentes descrevem estes compostos como inibidores de quinases, uma classe de proteínas envolvidas em várias etapas do ciclo celular. Nesta revisão, complexos de cobre(II) com ligantes derivados de oxindóis são discutidos como potenciais agentes antitumorais, em comparação com outros complexos, com base na proposição de se aliar as propriedades redox e coordenativas do metal à capacidade de afetar os processos de angiogenese e apoptose já demonstrada por esse tipo de ligante.

Oxindoles are endogenous compounds found in mammalian body fluids and tissues. Particularly, isatin (1H-indole-2,3-dione) and its derivatives have shown a variety of biological effects, including inhibition of monoamine oxidase, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and antiproliferative activities. Recent reports have described these compounds as efficient inhibitors of kinases, a class of proteins involved in many steps of the cellular cycle. Here, some copper(II) complexes with oxindole-derived ligands are discussed as potential antitumoral agents, in comparison to other complexes, based on the proposal of a synergistic effect on adding the metal coordinating and redox properties to the already demonstrated capability of these ligands to influence the angiogenesis and apoptosis processes.

This article focuses on the development of Inorganic Chemistry in Brazil, including historical perspectives, scientific production (WEB-ISI data), international cooperation, teaching, literature and human resources, with particular emphasis on the last 25 years.

The importance of copper as an essential element can be estimated by the wide range of copper proteins and enzymes playing different roles in biological systems. In the last decades many bioinorganic studies were developed on mimetic complexes of copper-dependent proteins, in order to verify the interrelations between structural and functional properties of active copper centers. Among the most studied copper ion ligand, diimine compounds have deserved special attention due their flexibility, facility of preparation, and ability to stabilize both oxidation states of this metal. In our laboratory, we have been investigating some Schiff base copper complexes as mimics of different proteins, with emphasis on functional aspects, trying to elucidate mechanisms of reaction, based on proposed intermediary species, in addition to molecular shapes. Particularly, mimics of the copper-zinc superoxide dismutase, and of monooxigenases and oxidases exhibiting dicopper sites are discussed in this work.