Tailored synthesis, spectroscopic, catalytic, and antibacterial studies of dinuclear ruthenium (II/III) chloro sulfoxide complexes with 5-nitro-o-phenanthroline as a spacer

Abstract

A dinucleating spacer incorporating o-phenanthroline has been synthesized and characterized. The reaction of this spacer with ruthenium precursors resulted in formation of dinuclear complexes, [cis,fac-RuCl2(SO)3 (μ-nphen)cis,cis-RuCl2(SO)2], [trans,mer-RuCl2(SO)3 (μ-nphen)trans, cis-RuCl2(SO)2], and [X]+[trans-RuCl4(SO)(μ-nphen)mer-RuCl3(SO)]−, where SO = dimethylsulfoxide/tetramethylenesulfoxide, nphen = 5-nitro-o-phenanthroline, and X+ = [(dmso)2H]+, Na+, and [(tmso)H]+. These complexes were characterized by elemental analyses, conductivity measurements, magnetic susceptibility, FT-IR, FAB-Mass, 1H-NMR, 13C{1H}-NMR, and electronic spectroscopy. [trans,mer-RuCl2(dmso)3(μ-nphen)trans,cis-RuCl2(dmso)2] was also characterized on the basis of 1H–1H COSY NMR. The coordination of one ruthenium is through heterocyclic nitrogen of the o-phenanthroline and the second is through the oxygen of the nitrito group. Catalytic activity of these complexes has been investigated in hydrolysis of benzonitrile. All the complexes possess antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and are compared to Chloramphenicol.