Coordination behaviours of new (bidentate N,O-chelating) Schiff bases towards copper(II) and nickel(II) metal ions: synthesis, characterization, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and DFT studies

Abstract

Two Schiff bases, HL1 and HL2, were synthesized in two different reactions involving 2-hydroxynaphthaldehyde with 2-amino-6-methylbenzothiazole and 2-amino-6-florobenzothiazole respectively. Copper(II) and nickel(II) complexes of the Schiff bases were subsequently prepared in 1:1 metal-to-ligand stoichiometric reactions. The compounds were characterized extensively by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, Dept-90, UV–Vis, and IR spectroscopic techniques, magnetic susceptibility, TGA, DTG, and molar conductivity analysis. The spectroscopic results confirm bidentate nature of the Schiff bases and a four coordinate geometry for all the complexes: [CuL1ClH2O], [NiL1ClH2O], [Cu(L2)2], and [NiL2ClH2O]. Quantum chemical studies gave fully optimized geometries of the Schiff bases and metal complexes using the 6-31+g(d,p) basis set. The compounds were studied for their in vitro antibacterial activities against some selected Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, using agar well diffusion. The metal complexes exhibited better antibacterial activities compared to the free ligand due to the effects of chelation, which improved the lipophilicity. Furthermore, the antioxidant potentials of the compounds were ascertained using DPPH radical scavenging and ferrous chelating assay. The copper complexes had the best antioxidant properties of all the tested compounds. The results of the biological analysis were in agreement with the theoretical data from quantum chemical calculations. The study presented biologically active coordination compounds with benzothiazole moiety that could be used as compounds of interest in the drug discovery processes.