Theoretical and experimental studies of two Co(II) and Ni(II) coordination complex with N,O donor 2-chloro-6-{[(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)methylidene]amino}-4 nitrophenol ligand

•Two mononuclear complexes were synthesized and characterized.•Non-isothermal kinetics studies were studied & proposed degradation mechanism.•The optical band gap values of complexes were calculated.•The CV studies were performed to examine their electrochemical behavior.•DFT calculations were carried out to support the experimental findings.

Here we report two mononuclear Co(II) and Ni(II) complexes of general formula [M(L)2(H2O)].2H2O; {M = CoII & NiII} derived from bidentate 2-chloro-6-{[(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)methylidene]amino}-4 nitrophenol ligand (HL). These compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, spectral (FT-IR, electronic and 1H-NMR), molar conductance, thermal, PXRD, SEM and electrochemical studies. Distorted octahedral geometry was proposed around the metal center with ligand (HL). The PXRD and SEM analysis shows the crystalline nature of complexes. The broadening of diffraction peaks were explained in terms of domain size and the lattice strain according to Scherrer and Williamson–Hall method. TG of the synthesized complexes illustrates their general decomposition pattern and thermal stability. The kinetic and thermodynamic parameters viz. activation energy (E∗), pre-exponential factor (Z), entropy of activation (ΔS∗), enthalpy of activation (ΔH∗) and free energy of activation (ΔG∗) of degradation process were also evaluated using Coats-Redfern (C-R), Piloyan-Novikova (P-N) and Horowitz–Metzger (H-M) methods for both complexes assuming first order degradation. The optical band gap values of complexes were found to be in good agreement with calculated HOMO-LUMO energy gap (ΔE) and lie in semiconducting range. The cyclic voltammetric studies of synthesized compounds were carried out in order to examine their electrochemical behavior. In addition theoretical calculations by means of DFT at B3LYP level were incorporated to support the experimental findings.

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