Abstract

Design Synthesis and Preliminary Antibacterial Evaluation of Schiff Base Metal Complexes of Ampicillin and Cephalexin

Author(s): Abbas H Abdulsada, Noor H Nasser and Ahmed K Hussein

In the present study, new Schiff bases derived from two beta lactam antibiotics, ampicillin and cephalexin were synthesized from condensation of the aforementioned drugs with Terephthalaldehyde and their metal complexes counterparts with copper (II) have been synthesized. In both drugs the free amino group of the acylamino side chain allowed to react with Terephthalaldehyde to obtain Schiff bases which were, subsequently, allowed to react with copper chloride separately to form Schiff base copper complexes. All the derivatives and metal complexes are analyzed by FT-IR, elemental analysis and 1H NMR analysis. The antibacterial activity of the prepared compounds was screened against several bacterial strains namely S. aureus, E. coli and P. aeruginosa. The antibacterial screening tests elicit that both copper complexes besides Schiff bases exhibited promising antibacterial activity against these microorganisms so that they are of improved antibacterial activity than the parent drugs.