Synthesis and antimicrobial activities of metal(II) complexes with 2,4-diiodo-6-phenyliminomethyl-phenol

A bidentate ligand, 2,4-diiodo-6-phenyliminomethyl-phenol (HL) has been synthesized from 3,5-diiodosalicylaldehyde and phenylamine in ethanol. Five mononuclear complexes have been synthesized from 2,4-diiodo-6-phenyliminomethyl-phenol reaction with CuCl2 center dot 2H2O, NiCl2 center dot 6H2O, CoCl2 center dot 6H2O, MnCl2 center dot 4H2O, and ZnCl2 in ethanol or tetrahydrofuran (THF). The complexes were characterized by UV, infrared, ESI-MS, and elemental analyses. Complexes bis(2,4-diiodo-6-phenyliminomethyl-phenol)-copper(II) (1) and bis(2,4-diiodo-6-phenyliminomethyl-phenol)-zinc(II)-THF (5) were characterized by X-ray crystallography. Based on the crystal structure analysis of 1 and 5, coupled to their spectral similarity with other complexes prepared (2, 3, 4), we conclude that 2, 3, and 4 have similar structures to 1. The metal(II) in each complex is four-coordinate by two nitrogens and two oxygens from two ligands. All the complexes were assayed for antibacterial (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Enterobacter cloacae) activities by the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) method. Among the complexes tested, 1 showed the most favorable antimicrobial activity with minimum inhibitory concentrations of 3.125, 6.25, 6.25, 3.125, 3.125, 6.25 mu g mL-1 against B. subtilis, S. aureus, S. faecalis, P. aeruginosa, E. coli, and E. cloacae, respectively.