Synthesis, structure and urease inhibition studies of dimeric copper(II) complexes with a tridentate Schiff base ligand derived from tetrahydrofurfurylamine

•Three dimeric Cu(II) complexes of Schiff bases were synthesized and characterized.•Spectral data and urease inhibitory activity were described.•Docking analysis was done to gain an understanding of their inhibitory activities.

Three new dimeric copper(II) complexes with general formula Cu2(L)2X2, where L is a tridentate O,N,O-donor Schiff base ligand derived from tetrahydrofurfurylamine, have been synthesized and structurally characterized. X-ray single crystal studies reveal that complexes 1, 2 and 3 possess a centrosymmetric dimeric core Cu2X2 (X = Cl, Br and SCN) and the copper(II) centers sit in slightly distorted square pyramidal coordination geometry (τ = 0.02–0.09). The urease inhibitory activities of the obtained copper(II) complexes have been tested in vitro against jack bean urease, and the results show that these copper(II) complexes exhibit potent inhibitory activities with IC50 ranges of 7.20–11.00 μM. Molecular docking analysis using dock program has also been conducted to gain further understanding of the inhibitory activities.

Graphical abstractThree new dimeric copper(II) complexes derived from tetrahydrofurfurylamine were synthesized and characterized. Inhibition of jack bean urease by dimeric copper(II) complexes 1, 2 and 3 was investigated. Molecular docking analysis was done to gain an understanding of their enzyme inhibitory activities.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide