Model investigations for vanadium-protein interactions: Synthesis, characterization and antidiabetic properties

[Display omitted] •Oxidovanadium(IV/V) complexes with NNO donor ligand was synthesized and characterized.•Molecular Docking was used to study the molecular binding behaviour of all complexes.•The complexes were screened for the anti-diabetic activity. Reaction of NNO donor Schiff bases with vanadyl sulphate afforded the complexes viz., [VO(L1)(H2O)]NO31, [VO(L2)(H2O)]NO32, [VO(L2)(ImH)2]SO4·H2O 3 and [VO(L1)ImH]NO34 (where, L1 = Acetic acid (2-hydroxy-3-methoxy-benzylidene)-hydrazide and L2 = 5-bromo-2-[(E)-(pyridine-2-ylhydrazono)methyl]phenol). In complex 3 the oxidation state of vanadium was found to be +5, while in rest all complexes it was +4. The crystal structure of complex 3 was solved by single crystal X-ray analysis. In addition to synthesis, optical, infrared and electrochemical properties of these complexes were also carried out. Electron paramagnetic spectra of oxidovanadium(IV/V) complexes is reported as well. Docking experiments were performed to study the molecular binding behaviour of all complexes with α-glucosidase enzyme. An antidiabetic feature like α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition studies made them promising candidates as inhibitors of insulin enzyme.