Overview of Medical and Biological Applications of Indium(III) Complexes

Indium(III) complexes are versatile species that emit Auger electrons which made them a choice for a wide range of biological and medical applications. The properties of these complexes depend on the primary ligand that was used for their syntheses. Herein, methods of synthesizing xanthates, dithiocarbamate, phthalocyanine, thiosemicarbazone and naphthalocyanine complexes of indium(III) are discussed. Also, the methods for synthesizing indium(III) complexes having other ligands are highlighted. Furthermore, antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral potential of the indium(III) complexes are comprehensively discussed. Other biological applications of the complexes such as anticancer, bioimaging, radiopharmaceutical, photodynamic chemotherapy, antioxidants, and optical limiting applications of these indium(III) complexes are comprehensively reviewed. In addition, toxicity of indium(III) complexes towards biological samples are examined because these must be considered in evaluating the safety and efficacy of indium(III) complexes for these numerous applications. Overall, indium(III) complexes are reported to have displayed a good performance in all these biological and medical applications. The future perspectives on the applications of indium(III) complexes are therefore suggested.