Synthesis, structural characterization, in vitro antimicrobial and anticancer activity studies of ternary metal complexes containing glycine amino acid and the anti-inflammatory drug lornoxicam

• Mononuclear ternary complexes of lornoxicam drug and glycine with transition metal ions were prepared.
• The bonding and stereochemistry were deduced from elemental and spectroscopic data.
• The activation kinetic parameters are calculated using DTG curves.
• The metal complexes showed antimicrobial inhibition capacity comparable to LOR ligand.
• The metal complexes have high anticancer activity against MCF7.

Mixed ligand complexes were synthesized using lornoxicam (LOR) as the primary ligand and glycine amino acid (HGly) as the secondary ligand. They were characterized by FT-IR, UV–Vis, mass, 1H NMR, ESR spectral studies, TG–DTG, X-ray powder diffraction and physical analytical studies. From the molar conductance, magnetic moment and electronic spectral data of the synthesized complexes, general formulae of [M(LOR)2(Gly)]·Xn·yH2O where M = Cr(III) (X = Cl, n = 2, y = 3), Mn(II) (X = Cl, n = 1, y = 1), Co(II) (X = BF4, n = 1, y = 0), Ni(II) (X = Cl, n = 1, y = 0), Cu(II) (X = BF4, n = 1, y = 2) and Zn(II) (X = BF4, n = 1, y = 2) and (M = Fe(II) (X = BF4, n = 1, y = 1) and Fe(III) (X = Cl, n = 2, y = 1) with an octahedral structure were proposed. Thermal analyses show that the complexes lose water molecules of hydration initially and subsequently expel anionic parts and organic ligands in continuous steps. The kinetic parameters namely E, ΔH∗, ΔS∗ and ΔG∗ illustrate the spontaneous association of the metal and ligands in the formation of the complexes. The antimicrobial efficiency of the LOR and HGly ligands and the ternary complexes were examined by in vitro method against various pathogenic bacterial and fungal strains. The metal complexes were found to possess efficient antimicrobial properties compared to lornoxicam and most of these complexes could turn out to be excellent models for the design of effective antibiotic drug substances. Also, the two ligands, in comparison to ternary metal complexes are screened for their anticancer activity against breastic cancer cell line. The results showed that the metal complexes be more active than the parent LOR and glycine free ligands except Cr(III) ternary complex which was found to be inactive.