New water soluble bis-imidazolium salts with a saldach scaffold: Synthesis, characterization and in vitro cytotoxicity/bactericidal studies

A series of water-soluble bis-imidazolium salts of the type H-2(Pr-i)(2)saldach(1,2-Me(2)Im(+)-X-)(2) (4) and their mononuclear complexes [M(III)Cl{(Pr-i)(2)saldach(1,2-Me(2)Im(+)-X-)(2)}] (M = Mn, 5; Fe, 6), (X = Cl, a; PF6, b; BF4, c), where saldach = N, N'-bis(salicylidene)-(+/-)- trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane, have been synthesized and characterized using elemental analysis, electronic, spectral, magnetic as well as conductometric methods and MALDI-TOF-, ESI-MS. All complexes possess a distorted square pyramidal coordination geometry with MN2O2Cl chromophore, as revealed by the elemental, spectral and literature data. These salts have been evaluated for in vitro cytotoxicity against HepG-2 and MCF-7 cell lines. Among them, 4c (IC50 = 22.17 mu M) exhibited potency against MCF-7. The bactericidal efficacy of 4a-c was screened against a panel of common pathogenic bacteria. Compound 4a was found to be the most potent antibacterial agent and could inhibit all the bacterial strains more effectively than standard antibiotics. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.