Synthesis of terepthalaldehyde and thiosemicarbazide polymeric metal complexes containing Cu (II) and Zn (II): Evaluation of photophysical and antibacterial properties

A product of terepthalaldehyde-thiosemicarbazide as condensed polymer (TTCPP) was synthesized by polycondensation reaction of terepthalaldehyde with thiosemicarbazide. Two polymeric metal complexes of the condensed product [(C17H13N3S)2CuCl2]n and [(C17H13N3S)2ZnCl2]n were prepared with CuCl2 and ZnCl2 metal salts separately and compared for their properties evaluation. The synthesized polymer metal complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR, SEM, XRD, UV–vis and fluorescence techniques. TTCPP shows fluorescence at 424 nm at an excitation wavelength of 342 nm and its polymer complexes TTCPP-CuCl2 and TTCPP-ZnCl2 show fluorescence at the same wavelength with higher intensity. The reported metal polymers seem to be effective light emitting materials and also found to be an effective antibacterial agent which was tested in vitro by LB agar plate assay against Escherichia coli.