Cobalt(II) complexes of biologically active glutathione: Spectroscopic and molecular modeling studies

Cobalt(II) complexes of reduced glutathione (GSH) of general composition Na[Co(L)(X)]·nH2O (where H2L = GSH; X = Cl−, NO3−, NCS−, CH3CO2−, HCO2−, ClO4− and n = 0–4) have been synthesized and characterised by elemental analyses, vibrational spectra, electronic spectra, magnetic susceptibility measurements, thermal studies and molecular modeling studies. Electronic spectra indicate planar geometry for all the complexes. Infrared spectra indicate the presence of H2O molecules (except perchlorate complex) in the complexes that has been supported by TG/DTA. The room temperature magnetic moment values for all complexes lie in the range of 2.60–2.80 BM range indicating departure from spin only values due to second order Zeeman effect. Thermal decomposition of all the complexes proceeds via first order kinetics. The Na[Co(L)(Cl)]·2H2O complex has the minimum activation energy and Na[Co(L)(CH3CO2)]·3H2O has the maximum activation energy. The molecular modeling calculation for energy minimization optimizes geometry of the metal complexes.