Synthesis and antitumor studies on novel Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) metal complexes of bis(3-acetylcoumarin)thiocarbohydrazone

The synthesis, structure, physico-chemical investigation and biological studies of some metal complexes of thiocarbohydrazone ligands are described. The ligand is obtained by condensation of N,N′-thiocarbohydrazide with 3-acetylcoumarin. The metal complexes of Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) with bis(3-acetylcoumarin)thiocarbohydrazone were synthesized and isolated as solid products and characterized by analytical means as well as by spectral techniques such as FT-IR, 1H NMR and EPR and UV spectrometry. The ligand acts as bidentate, through NO or NN, neutral in coordinating the M(II) ions. The bonding sites are the azomethine nitrogen, lactone carbonyl oxygen and respective anion counterparts. The metal complexes exhibit either octahedral or distorted octahedral structures. The complexes are found to be soluble in dimethylformamide and dimethylsulphoxide. Molar conductance values in dimethylsulphoxide indicate the non-electrolytic nature of the complexes. The compounds tested in present study have shown promising cytotoxic activity when screened using the in vitro method and at the same time were shown to have good activity when tested using the Ehrlich Ascites Carcinoma model. Preliminary antimicrobial screening shows the promising results against both bacterial and fungal strains. © 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.