Two new zinc(II) and mercury(II) complexes based on N,N'-(cyclohexane-1,2-diylidene)bis(4-fluorobenzohydrazide): synthesis, crystal structures and antibacterial activities.

Reaction of N,N'-(cyclohexane-1,2-diylidene)bis(4-fluorobenzohydrazide), C20H18F2N4O2, (LF), with zinc chloride and mercury(II) chloride produced different types and shapes of neutral coordination complexes, namely, dichlorido[N,N'-(cyclohexane-1,2-diylidene)bis(4-fluorobenzohydrazide)-κ2N,O]zinc(II), [ZnCl2(C20H18F2N4O2)], (1), and dichlorido[N,N'-(cyclohexane-1,2-diylidene)bis(4-fluorobenzohydrazide)-κ4O,N,N',O']mercury(II), [HgCl2(C20H18F2N4O2)], (2). The organic ligand and its metal complexes are characterized using various techniques: IR, UV-Vis and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies, in addition to powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), single-crystal X-ray crystallography and microelemental analysis. Depending upon the data from these analyses and measurements, a typical tetrahedral geometry was confirmed for zinc complex (1), in which the ZnII atom is located outside the bis(benzhydrazone) core. The HgII atom in (2) is found within the core and has a common octahedral structure. The in vitro antibacterial activities of the prepared compounds were evaluated against two different bacterial strains, i.e. gram positive Bacillus subtilis and gram negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria. The prepared compounds exhibited differentiated growth-inhibitory activities against these two bacterial strains based on the difference in their lipophilic nature and structural features.