Synthesis and antibacterial activities of metal(II) complexes with Schiff bases derived from 3,5-diiodosalicylaldehyde

Abstract

Two new Schiff bases (2,4-diiodo-6-[(2-morpholin-4-yl-ethylimino)-methyl]-phenol and 2,4-diiodo-6-[(3-morpholin-4-yl-propylimino)-methyl]-phenol), condensed from 3,5-diiodosalicylaldehyde with 2-morpholinoethylamine and 3-morpholinopropylamine, have been designed and synthesized. Reaction of the Schiff bases with Zn(OAc)2 · 2H2O, Cu(OAc)2 · H2O, Ni(OAc)2 · 4H2O, Co(OAc)2 · 4H2O, Cd(OAc)2 · 2H2O, Mn(OAc)2 · 4H2O, Fe(SO4)2 · 7H2O, and Hg(OAc)2 led to the formation of 16 new mononuclear complexes. The complexes were characterized by UV, Infrared, ESI-MS, and elemental analyses, and 3,5-diiodosalicylalidene-2-morpholinoethylaminozinc(II) (1) and 3,5-diiodosalicylalidene-2-morpholinoethylaminocopper(II) (2) were characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Based on crystal structural analysis of 1 and 2, coupled with their spectral similarity with 3–16, it can be concluded that 3–16 have structures similar to 1 and 2. All the complexes were assayed for antibacterial activities against three Gram positive bacterial strains (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus faecalis) and three Gram negative bacterial strains (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter cloacae) by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide method. Among the complexes tested, 8 and 16 showed the most favorable antibacterial activity with minimum inhibitory concentration of 0.781, 12.5, 6.25, 3.125, 3.125, 6.25 and 1.562, 6.25, 1.562, 3.125, 3.125, 1.562 µg mL−1 against B. subtilis, S. aureus, S. faecalis, P. aeruginosa, E. coli, and E. cloacae, respectively.