Metal complexes of the nanosized ligand N-benzoyl-N′-(p-amino phenyl) thiourea: Synthesis, characterization, antimicrobial activity and the metal uptake capacity of its ligating resin

• Nanosized hypodentate N-benzoyl-N′-(p-aminophenyl)thiourea was synthesized.
• d10 metal complexes were prepared, characterized and exhibited thermal stability.
• The ligand was more active than complexes or standard against certain bacterial strains.
• A hypodentate ligating resin has been synthesized and characterized.
• The extent of metal sorption increases in the following order: Cu2+ > Cd2+ > Ag+.

The new nanosized N-benzoyl-N′-(p-amino phenyl) thiourea ligand H2L was synthesized by nanoprecipitation method. The [Cu (H2L)2 Cl]·2H2O, [Zn (H2L)2(OAc)2], [Cd (H2L)2Cl2] and [Hg (H2L)2Cl2] complexes were synthesized and characterized by various physicochemical methods. Results revealed that the ligand act as hypodentate and bonded to the metal ion via the sulfur atom forming mononuclear non-electrolyte diamagnetic complex. Magnetic moment results indicated a reduction of Cu (II) to Cu (I) during the coordination process. Thermal studies demonstrated variable stabilities of the complexes and [Zn (H2L)2(OAc)2] exhibited the highest thermal stability while [Hg (H2L)2Cl2] was volatile. The prepared compounds were screened against different pathogenic microorganisms. The ligand performed high antibacterial activity against certain bacterial strain compared to its complexes, and the standard bacteriocide in use. The ligand was successfully immobilized on modified Amberlite XAD-16 forming the hypodentate ligating resin PS-SO2-H2L. The new resin was characterized and the extent of metal adsorption reached maximum at pH 6.0 for Cu (II), Cd (II) and Ag (I), with an adsorption amount of 4.3, 4.0 and 3.7 mmol g−1 respectively. The nanosized H2L represents a new category of promising adsorbent that would have a practical impact on biological and water treatment applications.

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