Syntheses, characterizations, and antimicrobial activities of binuclear ruthenium(III) complexes containing 2-substituted benzimidazole derivatives

Binuclear ruthenium(III) complexes [RuX3L](2) center dot nH(2)O (X=Cl, L=L-1, L-2, L-3; n=1, L-4 and L-5, X=Br; L=L-3), [RuX3L1.5](2) center dot nH(2)O (X=Br, L=L-1; n=0, L-4; n=6 and L-5; n=10), and [RuX3L2](2) (X=Br, L=L-2) have been isolated by treatment of hydrated RuX3 (X=Cl/Br) in acetone with 2-(2 '-aminophenylbenzimidazole) (L-1), 2-(3 '-aminophenylbenzimidazole) (L-2), 2-[(3 '-N-salicylidinephenyl)benzimidazole] (L-3), 2-(3 '-pyridylbenzimidazole) (L-4), and 2-(4 '-pyridylbenzimidazole) (L-5) in acetone. The complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, conductivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements, IR, electronic, EPR, and mass spectral studies. The complexes were dimeric; based on analytical and spectral studies, an octahedral geometry was proposed for the complexes. The synthesized complexes were screened against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and fungi.