SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERISATION, CATALYTIC, AND BIOCIDAL STUDIES OF RUTHENIUM(III) COMPLEXES WITH THIOSEMICARBAZONES OF β-DIKETOESTERS

ABSTRACT

Ruthenium(III) complexes, [RuX(EPh₃)₂(L)] (X=Cl, Br; E=P, As; L=tridentate Schiff base dianion), have been synthesised by reacting [RuCl₃(PPh₃)₃], [RuCl₃(AsPh₃)₃] or [RuBr₃(AsPh₃)₃] with thiosemicarbazones of methyl- and ethyl acetoacetates. All of the new complexes have been characterised by elemental analyses, IR, electronic, EPR and cyclic voltammetric data and an octahedral structure has been tentatively proposed. The ruthenium(III) complexes were found to be effective catalysts for the oxidation of alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compounds in the presence of N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMO) as a co-oxidant. The Schiff bases and the new complexes have been tested for the in vitro growth inhibitory activity against the bacteria E. Coli, Bacillus sp. and Pseudomonas sp.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

One of us (C.J.B.) is thankful to the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India, for the award of a Teacher Research Fellowship. We also thank Dr. K. Swaminathan and Mr. G. S. Murugesan, Department of Biotechnology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India, for their help with the biocidal studies.