Lanthanide furoate complexes as promising systems with double effects – From suppression of mycobacteria to potential bioimaging

Several ternary complexes of rare earth ions (Gd3+, Eu3+, Sm3+) with 3-furoic (H3fur) / 5-nitro-2-furoic (Hnfur) acids and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) have been synthesized. According to the X-ray data the resulting complexes can be divided into two groups − heterocarboxylate [Ln2(3fur)4(OAc)2(phen)2]·L and homocarboxylate complexes [Ln2(nfur)6(phen)2]·L (LnIII = Gd (1, 2), Eu (3, 4), Sm (5, 6, 7); L = 4EtOH (1–4), 4MeOH (5), H2O (7)). The stability of the complexes 1–6 in solutions was studied by recording electronic absorption spectra for two days. Optical properties of the complexes 1–6 were studied by recording absorption, excitation and luminescence spectra. The study of antibacterial properties 1–7 showed high activity of complexes in vitro against non-pathogenic Mycolicibacterium smegmatis. For the most active 3, antibacterial activity against the reference strain Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv was determined (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) up to 12.5 μg/mL)..