Synthesis, Characterization and Antimicrobial Properties of [Cu2(μ-O2CC9H19)4(4-CNpy)2]

Abstract

Reports on the isolation and crystallographic characterization of metal carboxylates having long alkyl chains are relatively rare. Herein, a dinuclear copper(II) tetracaprate (i.e. tetradecanoate) complex, [Cu2(μ-O2CC9H19)4(4-CNpy)2] (I), where 4-CNpy = 4-cyanopyridine is reported. The complex has been synthesized by a facile method and characterized by various physico-chemical techniques such as IR and UV-vis spectroscopy, magnetic susceptibility measurement and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The structure is dimeric with the familiar paddle-wheel geometry, which was originally observed in the structure of copper(II) acetate monohydrate. In the dimeric structure, both copper(II) centres display distorted square pyramidal geometry. The substituted pyridine ligands occupy the apical positions through the pyridyl nitrogen atoms. Complex I has been tested for antimicrobial behaviour against a few bacterial strains. Owing to the redox-active nature of copper, complex I shows considerable promise as an antimicrobial agent.