Synthesis, Structural Characterization, Reactivity and Bioactivity Studies of Some Binuclear Salen Type Schiff Base Complexes of Manganese(III)

Four new phenoxy bridged binuclear Salen type Schiff base complexes of manganese(III), [MnLX]2 with tetradentate Schiff base, H2L [H2L = N,N′-O-phenylene bis(salicylaldimine)] containing anionic co-ligands, X (X = benzoate, p-hydroxy benzoate, p-aminobenzoate, 3,5-dinitrobenzoate) have been synthesized from manganese(II) acetate, Schiff base (H2L) and the corresponding co-ligands in methanol medium. Schiff base ligand (H2L) was obtained in situ by condensation of salicylaldehyde and o-phenylenediamine in aqueous methanol. Elemental analyses, FT-IR, molar conductance, UV-visible spectroscopic studies and magnetic moment measurements at room temperature were used to characterize the binuclear Schiff base complexes. The IR spectra of [MnLX]2 (X = benzoate, p-hydroxy benzoate, p-aminobenzoate, 3,5-dinitrobenzoate) complexes showed the characteristic absorptions due to coordinated azomethine nitrogen and phenolic oxygen atoms of the Schiff base. In addition, IR spectra of the compounds also suggest coordination of the co-ligands namely benzoate, p-hydroxy benzoate, p-aminobenzoate, 3,5-dinitrobenzoate in the respective complexes. A consistent presence of a band at ca. 755 cm-1 in all the binuclear complexes arises due to (Mn-O-Mn) moiety originated from interactions of phenoxy oxygen and manganese atoms, resulted in dimeric structure of the compounds. The magnetic moment values ranging from 4.74-4.91 B.M. per manganese centre for the complexes suggest presence of Mn(III) ion in the complexes. The overall coordination geometry around the manganese centres is distorted octahedral. Redox behaviour of the synthesized complexes was ascertained from cyclic voltametric studies. The Schiff base complexes, [Mn(L)X]2 (X = p-aminobenzoate, 3,5-dinitrobenzoate) have demonstrated their catalytic potentials in oxidizing selective organic substrates namely cyclohexene and styrene by hydrogen peroxide as oxidant. The oxidized products were characterized as trans-cyclohexane 1,2-diol and styrene epoxide, respectively. Complex 4 demonstrated a considerable level of effectiveness against a wide variety of pathogenic microorganisms.