Crystal Growth, Spectral, Magnetic, Antibacterial and Antifungal Studies of Co(II) and Ni(II) Complexes of 4-Nitrobenzoic Acid

Single crystals of cobalt(II) and nickel(II) complexes of 4-nitrobenzoic acid have been successfully grown by gel diffusion technique. The grown crystals were characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR and UV-Visible spectroscopy. The structure of the grown crystals was elucidated using single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The title compounds $[Co(Pnba)_2(H_2O)_4]{\cdot}2H_2O$ 1 and $[Ni(Pnba)_2(H_2O)_4]{\cdot}2H_2O$ 2 where PnbaH=4-nitrobenzoic acid, crystallize in centrosymmetric triclinic space group P-1. Magnetic susceptibility measurements reveal that the compounds are paramagnetic in nature. The mechanical strength of the grown crystals was determined by Vicker's microhardness studies. The ligand (4-nitrobenzoic acid) and the complexes have been screened for their biological activity against various bacteria and fungi. The activity data show that the biological activity of the complexes is higher than that of the ligand.