Synthesis, characterization and antileishmanial activity of copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes with diamine ligands

A new set of copper- and zinc-diamine (N-alkylated ( L1 ) and N,N'-dialkylated ( L2 )) complexes, [Cu( L1 ) 2 (NO 3 ) 2 ] ( 1 ), [Cu( L1 ) 2 (Cl) 2 ].5H 2 O ( 2 ), [Cu( L2 ) 2 (NO 3 ) 2 ] ( 3 ), [Cu( L2 ) 2 (Cl) 2 ] ( 4 ), [Zn(L1) 2 (C 2 H 3 O 2 ) 2 ] ( 5 ), [Zn( L1 ) 2 (Cl) 2 ] ( 6 ), [Zn( L2 ) 2 (C 2 H 3 O 2 ) 2 ] ( 7 ), [Zn( L2 ) 2 (Cl) 2 ] ( 8 ) were prepared by a reaction of the N-alkylated ( L1 ) and N,N'-dialkylated ( L2 ) with their respective copper and zinc salts under mild conditions. The metal complexes were fully characterized by physicochemical and spectroscopic methods. All new metal compounds exhibited significant biological activity against Leishmania amazonensis promastigotes when compared to the free ligands ( L1 and L2 ).