A new nano-sized mononuclear Cu (II) complex with N,N-donor Schiff base ligands: sonochemical synthesis, characterization, molecular modeling and biological activity

Abstract

A new, simple Cu2+ nano-structure Schiff base complex in methanol medium has been synthesized by the ultrasonic method. Structure of the compound was confirmed by FT-IR, GC-Mass and other spectroscopic techniques. The copper oxide (CuO) was achieved from the copper nano-structure Schiff base complex as the raw material after calcination for 3 hr at 600 °C. According to results Cu2+ gives a complex with mole ratio 1:2 of metal to ligand (ML2) with Schiff base which a distorted square planer is the most probable geometry for it. The calculations results from XRD patterns propose the nano-sized complexes. The SEM images show morphology of both the copper complex and the CuO powder were plate-like. The metal chelates of Cu2+ in two states of bulk and nano have been screened for their in vitro antibacterial activity against four bacteria, gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and three strains of fungus (Aspergillus flavus). The nano metal chelates were shown to possess more antibacterial activity than the bulk chelate. Finally, the empirical parameters of Schiff base compounds showed a good agreement with theoretical ones.