Metal complexes of a novel heterocyclic benzimidazole ligand formed by rearrangement-cyclization of the corresponding Schiff base. Electrosynthesis, structural characterization and antimicrobial activity.

The electrochemical oxidation of anodic metals (M = cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc and cadmium) in a solution of the ligand 1H-anthra[1,2-d]imidazol-6,11-dione-2-[2-hydroxyphenyl] [H2L] afforded homoleptic [ML] compounds. The addition to the electrochemical cell of coligands (L′) such as 2,2′-bipyridine (bpy) or 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) allowed the synthesis, in one step, of heteroleptic [MLL′] compounds. The crystal structures of H2L (1), [CoL(MeOH)]2 (2), [CoL(phen)]2 (3), [NiL(bpy)]2 (4), [CuL(bpy)] (5), [CuL(phen)] (6) and [CdL(bpy)]2 (7) have been determined by X-ray diffraction techniques. The crystal structures of 2, 3, 4 and 7 consist of dimeric species in which both metallic atoms …