Hydrazone complexes of Cu(II), Co(II), Zn(II), Ni(II) and Pt(II) with N-isonicotinoyl-N'-(3-metoxy-2 hydroxybenzaldehyde)-hydrazone (HL) were synthesized and characterized by different physico-chemical techniques including elemental and thermal analysis, magnetic susceptibility measurements, molar electric conductivity, as well as IR (infrared), ¹H-NMR and 13C-NMR (hydrogen and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance, UV-Vis (ultraviolet-visible), FAB (fast atom bombardment), EPR (electron paramagnetic resonance), and mass spectroscopies. The crystal structure of ligand was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. Spectral data showed that hydrazone behaves as an ONO tridentate ligand through the azomethine nitrogen, phenolate and keto oxygen atoms. For the copper(II) complexes, metal-ligand bonding parameters were evaluated from the EPR spectra. These parameters indicate the presence of in-plane π bonding. In addition, the f values of complexes 1-4 indicate small distortion from planarity. The effect of these complexes on proliferation of human breast cancer (MCF-7 and SKBR-3), human melanoma (A375), lung adenocarcinoma cells (NCI-H1573) and their antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans strains were studied and compared with those of free ligand. The ligand and complexes 1-3 showed significant antimicrobial activity against the Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans in comparison to the control drugs. The complexes 2-4 could be potential antitumor agents, leading to a significant improvement of the cytotoxic activity when compared with HL.
Keywords: antimicrobial activity; cobalt(II); copper(II); human breast SKBR-3 and MCF-7; human melanoma A375; lung adenocarcinoma cell NCI-H1573; nickel(II) and platinum(II) complexes; zinc(II).