Preparation, Characterization and Antimicrobial Activity of Pd(II), Zn(II) and Cu(II) Complexes of Benzimidazoles and Schiff Bases Including Ferrocene Group

PdCl2, ZnCl2 and CuCl2 complexes of three benzimidazole derivatives and two Schiff bases having the ferrocene group were synthesized and characterized. It was unexpectedly noticed that the Pd(II) and Zn(II) complexes exhibit paramagnetic characters corresponding to about one electron caused by the ferrocene moiety. For the same reason, the magnetic moment value of the Cu(II) complexes was also higher than the anticipated values. Besides, the antimicrobial activity of the complexes was investigated against six bacteria and three fungi. Comparing the ligands, the Schiff bases exhibited higher antimicrobial activity than the benzimidazole derivatives, especially on Gram+ bacteria. Among all compounds investigated in this work, [Zn(SB1)2]center dot 2H2O showed the highest activity against S. epidermidis and S. aureus which are Gram+ bacteria.