Phenols are antiseptic, disinfectants and are active against a wide range of microorganisms but are slowly effective against spores. They are used to relieve pains and irritation caused by sore throat, sore mouth or canker sores. 8 This research is aimed at synthesizing and characterizing Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) Schiff base complexes of (Z)-4-(1-pyridin-4ylimino)propyl)phenol and their antimicrobial activity.

The Schiff base was synthesized by condensing 4-aminopyridine with 4-hydroxypropiophenone. The synthesized ligand was characterized by proton and carbon-13 NMR spectroscopy, electronic spectroscopy and FTIR.The result of the FTIR showed the presence of a band at 1643.41cm-1 assigned to the azomethine bond, also the result of the 1HNMR and 13CNMR gave credence to the successful synthesis of the Schiff base. The Mn(II) and Zn(II) complexes were characterized by UV-visible analysis, FTIR, molar conductivity measurement and magnetic susceptibility test. The results of the FTIR suggest that the metal complexes possess coordinated water molecules and the shift in the wavenumber of the azomethine linkage in the spectra of the complexes shows that the nitrogen of the imine bond participated in the coordination to the metal centre. The magnetic susceptibility measurement shows that the metal complexes possess octahedral geometry. The molar conductivity test shows that the complexes are nonelectrolytic in nature and the metal to ligand ratio is 1:2. The synthesized ligand and the metal complexes were evaluated for biological activities against some organisms. The Zn(II) complex showed significant activity against the test organisms.