Synthesis, characterization, and biological activities of oxovanadium(IV) and cadmium(II) complexes with reduced Schiff bases derived from, N-N′-o-phenylenebis(salicylideneimine)

New oxovanadium(IV) and cadmium(II) complexes with reduced Schiff bases derived from N,N'-o-phenylenebis(salicylideneimine) have been synthesized and characterized using infrared and UV-visible spectra, ESR, and thermogravimetry. The complexes were identified as [ML] center dot (H2O) species, where deprotonated ligands are coordinated to metal through N2O2 donor atoms. Antioxidant activity of the ligands and complexes was evaluated, revealing that the complexes exhibit a higher scavenging activity than the corresponding ligands. The prepared cadmium complexes showed slightly higher activity than the vanadium ones. Antifungal activity was tested against different human fungi including yeasts of the Candida genus (C. albicans and C. glabrata) and an opportunistic mould Aspergillus fumigatus. The oxovanadium complexes exhibited a very low activity toward C. albicans while the cadmium ones showed a significant growth inhibition of all the fungi tested; mainly of A. fumigatus though this mould is poorly susceptible to current antifungal agents like Itraconazole. (C) 2015 Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences