Novel terephthalaldehyde bis(thiosemicarbazone) Schiff base ligand and its transition metal complexes as antibacterial Agents: Synthesis, characterization and biological investigations

Abstract

The synthesis and structural characterization of mixed ligand metal complexes from terephthalaldehyde bis(thiosemicarbazone) (TPTSC) (L1) and alanine (L2) by using ultrasonication are reported. The ligand and their transition metal complexes were characterized on the basis of their elemental, FT-IR, magnetic moment, molar conductance, mass spectra, and SEM analysis. The mixed ligand complexes are in the ratio 2:1:2 [M:L1:L2] ratio as found from the elemental analyses and found to have the formulae [M2L1(L2)2].nH2O where M = Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Cd(II) and Zn(II), L1 = TPTSC and L2 = alanine. The molar conductance data show that complexes are non-electrolytes. FT-IR spectra show that the Schiff base is coordinated to the metal ions in a bidentate manner with N and S donor sites of the terephthalaldehyde bis(thiosemicarbazone) and second ligand alanine coordinated to the metal ions via its N and O of amino acid. The geometrical structure of these complexes is found to be tetrahedral. The antimicrobial activity of the synthesized Schiff base ligand and mixed-ligand metal complexes have been screened against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and two fungi species were tested. Mixed ligand complexes exhibited significant antibacterial activity against Klebsiella Pneumoniae, Salmonella typhi, Enterococcus Faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and the fungi Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger. Further, these compounds have been screened for their anticancer activity using Human Breast Cancer Cell Line MDA-MB-231.