**Abstract**

Schiff bases represent a widely studied group of compounds, interesting from the synthetic and structural, but also applicational point of view. Among these, aromatic Schiff bases stand out due to their stability and possible application as safer therapeutic agents. Since the presence of the phenolic group and the heteroatom in the benzene ring seems to be of interest for the biological activity of Schiff bases, imine derivatives of some dihydroxybenzaldehydes, 2-acetylpyridine, and 2,6-diacetylpyridine are chosen to be described here. The syntheses, structural features, as well as investigations of possible application of Schiff bases themselves, but also their metal complexes are described. The Cambridge Structural Database has been searched to obtain a better knowledge of the structures of these Schiff bases and their metal complexes, structural changes upon coordination, and the most common and interesting modes of coordination. The main accent is given to those compounds that are promising candidates for medicinal and pharmaceutical use, but some of the described complexes are good as catalysts, optical materials, sensors, analytical reagents, etc.

**Keywords:** dihydroxybenzaldehydes, 2-acetylpyridine, 2,6-diacetylpyridine, imine derivative, metal complexes, synthesis, crystal structure, CSD search
