Structural investigations and antibacterial, antifungal and anticancer studies on zinc salicylaldimine complexes

Aim: Zinc salicylaldimines may act as multidrug agents. Results: Three zinc salicylaldimines C1–C3 and respective ligands HL1–HL3 were examined for antimicrobial/anticancer drug action and C3 was structurally analyzed (tetrahedral, triclinic). Against two fungi, C1 inhibited Candida albicans with 12 mm (21 mm for amphotericin B). Among four bacteria, two ligands inhibited Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli (9–10 mm), but the complexes inhibited all bacteria with 10–14 mm (21–26 mm for ampicillin). The half-maximal inhibitory concentrations for the ligands, complexes and doxorubicin were 195.5–310.7, 22.18–70.05 and 9.66 μM against cancerous MCF-7 cells and 186.4–199.9, 14.95–18.87 and 36.42 μM against normal BHK cells. Conclusion: The complexation produced pronounced enhancement in the ligand antimicrobial/anticancer activities, despite these activities are moderate comparing with standards.