Synthesis, structural characterisation and antibacterial activity of bis(1-phenyl-1,3-butanedionato)non-oxovanadium(IV) hydroxamates

Complexes with a composition of VCl(2-n)(bzac)(2)(HL(1,2))(n) (I - IV) (where bzac=1-phenyl-1,3-butanedionate anion (C(6)H(5)COCHCOCH(3)(-)); HL(1)=C(6)H(5)OCH(2)C(O)NHO(-), HL(2)=C(6)H(5)CH=CHC(O)NHO(-), n=1 and 2) have been synthesised from the reactions of (VCl(2)(bzac)(2)) with equi- and bi-molar amounts of potassium phenoxyacetohydroxamate and cinnamohydroxamate (KHL(1,2)) in THF + MeOH solvent medium. The complexes have been characterised by elemental analyses, molar conductivity, magnetic measurements, IR, electronic and mass spectral studies. The physicochemical and spectral studies suggest a distorted octahedral geometry around vanadium in the complexes. The antibacterial activities of the newly synthesised complexes, vanadium precursor and ligands have been screened in vitro against six bacterial species. The complexes have shown higher antibacterial effect than the free ligands.