Coordination behaviour, molecular docking, density functional theory calculations and biological activity studies of some transition metal complexes of bis‐Schiff base ligand

Abstract

Coordination compounds of Mn (II), Fe (III), Co (II), Ni (II), Cu (II) and Cd (II) ions were synthesized from reaction with Schiff base ligand 4,6‐bis((E)‐(2‐(pyridin‐2‐yl)ethylidene)amino)pyrimidine‐2‐thiol (HL) derived from the condensation of 4,6‐diaminopyrimidine‐2‐thiol and 2‐(pyridin‐2‐yl)acetaldehyde. Microanalytical data, magnetic susceptibility, infrared and 1H NMR spectroscopies, mass spectrometry, molar conductance, powder X‐ray diffraction and thermal decomposition measurements were used to determine the structure of the prepared complexes. It was found that the coordination between metal ions and bis‐Schiff base ligand was in a molar ratio of 1:1, with formula [M (HL)(H2O)2] Xn (M = Mn (II), Co (II), Ni (II), Cu (II) and Cd (II), n = 2; Fe (III), n = 3). Diffuse reflectance spectra and magnetic susceptibility measurements suggested an octahedral geometry for the complexes. The coordination between bis‐Schiff base ligand and metal ions was through NNNN donor sites in a tetradentate manner. After preparation of the complexes, biological studies were conducted using Gram‐positive (B. subtilis and S. aureus) and Gram‐negative (E. coli and P. aeruginosa) organisms. Metal complexes and ligand displayed acceptable microbial activity against both types of bacteria.