Copper, zinc, and nickel complexes derived from 3-methyl-2-((pyridin-2-ylmethylene)amino)phenol: syntheses, characterization, crystal structures, and urease inhibitory activity

Abstract

Five copper(II), zinc(II) and nickel(II) complexes, [Cu₂L₂(μ _1,1-N₃)₂] (1), [Zn₂L₂(μ ₂-η ¹:η ¹-CH₃COO)(NCS)]EtOH (2), [Zn₂L₂(μ ₂-η ¹:η ¹-CH₃COO)(N₃)]MeOH (3), [Zn₂Cl₂L₂] (4) and [NiL(HL)]ClO₄ (5), were prepared from the Schiff base 3-methyl-2-((pyridin-2-ylmethylene)amino)phenol (HL). The compounds have been characterized by physico-chemical methods including elemental analysis, IR, and UV–Vis spectra. Structures of the five new complexes were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The copper ions in 1 are in square pyramidal, while zinc ions in 2, 3, and 4 are distorted square pyramidal, and the nickel ions in 5 are octahedral. The biological assay indicated that zinc complex 2 has the most effective activity on Jack bean urease with IC₅₀ = 1.7 ± 0.8 μmol·L⁻¹. Molecular docking was performed to study the interaction between the active center of the urease with molecules of the complexes.

KEYWORDS:

• Schiff base
• metal complexes
• crystal structure
• urease inhibition

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by the Education Office of Liaoning Province (LJKZ0984), the Natural Science Foundation of the Scientific and Technological Office of Liaoning Province (2023-MS-255), the College Students’ Innovative Entrepreneurial Training Plan Program (X202210165116), and the Scientific Training Program of Liaoning Normal University (CX202202076).