The ability of a trinuclear zinc(II) Schiff base complex to act as a photocatalyst for the degradation of methylene blue and to mimic phosphatase

A new trinuclear zinc(II) complex, [Zn(mu(1,1)-N-3)(2){Zn(L)(N-3)}(2)]center dot 0.5CH(3)OH {HL = [2-((3-(dimethylamino)propylimino)methyl)-6-methoxyphenol]} has been synthesized and characterized. X-ray crystallographic analysis has confirmed its structure. The central zinc(II) is hexa-coordinated and both of the terminal zinc(II) centers are penta-coordinated. The complex has shown excellent phosphatase mimicking activity {k(cat) similar to 190 h(-1) at 298 K}, evaluated by monitoring the increase in absorbance at similar to 425 nm (spectrophotometrically) indicating gradual release of p-nitrophenolate by the hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenylphosphate ester with time, when 4-NPP (disodium 4-nitrophenylphosphatehexahydrate) has been used as substrate. The complex has also been found to be efficient photocatalyst for the degradation of methylene blue (MB). (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.