Abstract The 1,10-phenanthroline tricycle and its derivatives are of great interest in medicinal chemistry. Some years several research papers have been published on the 1,10-phenanthroline core alone or complexed with various metals. Researchers have explored new approaches to functionalize the 1,10-phenanthroline motif in order to obtain less toxic potential drug candidates without adding additional metals. This research has shown that the 1,10-phenanthroline tricycle and its derivatives possess important antimalarial, antimicrobial, antitubercular, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antioxidant properties. This review of the literature will discuss the different methods of construction of the 1,10-phenanthroline tricycle as well as the therapeutic potential of 1,10-phenanthroline derivatives not coupled to transition metals.
Keywords 1,10-phenanthroline, synthesis, therapeutic potentiality, antimalarial, antitubercular, antibacterial.