Abstract: N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) is a multifunctional ligand that forms stable coordination compounds with transition metals, with a wide range of applications in the fields of catalysis, pharmacy and materials science. Xanthine derivatives have the biological activities of anti-tumor metastasis and anti-angiogenesis and their structures are easy to modify. It is expected that a brandnew type of metal complex with original biological activities can be obtained by combining xanthine-derived NHC ligand with transition metals. In this paper, the biological activities of xanthine derivatives as well as the structural characteristics and biological activities of metal complexes with xanthine-derived NHC ligand are reviewed, and the researches on the NHC metal complex containing xanthine derivatives are summarized, which provides a reference for further investigation.