Coordination and biological behaviour of 2-(p-toluidino)-N′-(3-oxo-1,3-diphenylpropylidene) acetohydrazide and its metal complexes

A series of Ni(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Mn(II), Zn(II), Zr(IV), Fe(III), Ru(III), La(III), Hf(IV) and U( VI) complexes of 2-(p-toluidino)-N'-(3-oxo-1,3-diphenylpropylidene) acetohydrazide (H2L) have been synthesised and characterised by elemental and thermal analyses (DTA, TG), molar conductances, magnetic moments, IR, H-1 NMR, UV-Vis spectra and ESR measurements. The ESR spectra of solid complexes [(L)(HL)Cu-2(OAc)], [Cu(HL)(H2L)(NO3)] and [CuCl(HL)(H2L)]center dot H2O at room temperature show axial symmetry with covalent bond character, and complex [FeCl2(HL)(H2O)] has g(av) = 4.38, indicating a high spin (5/2) iron(III) complex. However, complexes [(HL)Mn2Cl3(H2O)(4)] and [RuCl2(HL)(H2O)]center dot H2O have isotropic spectra consistent with octahedral structure. The antifungal and antibacterial activities of the ligand and its complexes were investigated.