Abstract
Two carboxamide ligands, H2bqbenzo {3,4-bis(2-quinolinecarboxamido)benzophenone} and H2bqb {N,N′-bis[(2-quinolinecarboxamide)-1,2-benzene]}, have been prepared using tetrabutylammonium bromide as an environmentally benign reaction medium. Two new Pd(II) complexes, [PdII(bqbenzo)] (1) and [PdII(bqb)] (2), have been synthesized, characterized, and their structures determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The di-anionic ligands, bqbenzo2− and bqb2−, are coordinated via two Namide atoms and the nitrogens of the two quinoline rings, with Pd−Namide < Pd–Nquinoline bond lengths. The geometry around palladium(II) in both complexes is distorted square planar. The electrochemical behaviors of the ligands and their Pd(II) complexes have been investigated by cyclic voltammetry in DMF. An irreversible PdII/I reduction is observed at −1.06 V for 1 and at −1.177 V for 2, indicating the influence of the R substituent on the central phenyl ring of carboxamide ligands on the PdII/I reduction potential. The ligands and palladium complexes were also screened for in vitro antibacterial activity. The Pd(II) complexes show strong biological activity against S.typhi and E.coli as Gram −ve and B.cereus and S.aureus as Gram +ve bacteria comparable to the antibiotic penicillin. The antibacterial results also reveal that coordination of Pd(II) significantly improves the activity.
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Acknowledgements
Partial support of this work by the Isfahan University of Technology Research Council is gratefully acknowledged. We also thank the Swiss-Norwegian beam line at the ESRF in Grenoble, France, for beam time.