In the present work, two novel complexes of zinc(II)
and copper(II)
were synthesized from the ligand 2-((2-hydroxyethyl)amino)quinoline-3-carbaldehyde
(
H
2
L
) in a 1:2 metal-to-ligand
ratio in methanol. The complexes were characterized by UV–visible
spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared
(FT-IR) spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron
microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), mass spectrometry
(MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric
analysis (TGA) experimental techniques and density functional theory
(DFT) calculations. The spectral data revealed that the mono-deprotonated
(
HL
) ligand acted as a bidentate ligand, which bound
to both Zn(II) and Cu(II) ions
via
the nitrogen atom
of the amine (N–H) and the hydroxyl (O–H) groups through
the deprotonated oxygen atom. Formation constants and thermal analysis
indicated that both metal complexes are stable up to 100 °C with
thermodynamically favored chemical reactions. The Cu(II) complex showed
antibacterial activities with the zones of inhibition of 20.90 ±
2.00 mm against
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
, 19.69 ± 0.71 mm against
Staphylococcus aureus
, and 18.58 ± 1.04 mm against
Streptococcus pyogenes
. These results are relatively higher compared with the Zn(II) complex
at the same concentration. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)
results for the complexes also showed similar trends against the three
bacteria. On the other hand, radical scavenging activities of both
Cu(II) and Zn(II) complexes showed half-maximal inhibitory concentrations
(IC
50
) of 4.72 and 8.2 μg/mL, respectively, while
ascorbic acid (a positive control) has a value of 4.28 μg/mL.
The Cu(II) complex exhibited better communication with the positive
control, indicating its potential use for biological activities. The
calculated and
in silico
molecular docking results
also strongly support the experimental results.