Spectral, thermal, optical and biological studies on (E)-4-[(2-hydroxyphenyl)imino]pentan-2-one and its complexes

Metal complexes derived from the reaction of Cu(II), Co(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II) acetates and (E)-4-(2-hydroxyphenylimino)pentan-2-one (H2L) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, MS, IR, UV-Vis., 1H NMR, thermal analyses (TGA and DTG) and magnetic measurements. In all complexes except for Zn(II) complex, the Schiff base ligand acts as a mono-negative tridentate (NOO) donor, through the azomethine nitrogen, the hydroxyl oxygen and the enolic carbonyl oxygen. The structure of the Cu(II) complex is square-planar, the Co(II) is octahedral while, the Ni(II) and Zn(II) are tetrahedral. The optical band gap measurements indicated a semi-conducting nature of these complexes. The biological activities have been screened against two bacteria and two fungi. Some of the studied complexes showed activity against bacteria and fungi.