Currently, we report the preparation of transition metal
complexes
Co(II), Ni(II), and Cu(II) of hydrazone Schiff base ligands, which
are obtained by the condensation reaction of substituted salicylaldehyde
and hydrazines. The synthesized hydrazone ligands and their metal
complexes were characterized by spectroscopic methods such as Fourier
transform infrared (FT-IR), UV–vis, nuclear magnetic resonance
(1H NMR and C13 NMR), and mass spectrometry
analyses. All of the quantum chemistry calculations were performed
using DFT executed in the Gaussian 09 software package. The geometry
was optimized by using the density functional theory (DFT) approximation
at the B3LYP level with a basis set of 6-31G (d, p). There was excellent
agreement between the FT-IR values obtained experimentally and those
obtained theoretically for the test compounds. It is worth noting
that none of the optimized geometries for any of the Schiff base and
metal complexes had any eigenvalues that were negative, indicating
that these geometries represent the true minimum feasible energy surfaces.
We also analyzed the electrostatic potential of the molecule and NBO
calculation at the same level of theory. Gauss View 6 was utilized
for the file organization of the input data. Gauss View 6.0, Avogadro,
and Chemcraft were used to determine the data. Additionally, synthesized
compounds were screened for antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative
bacteria (Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus halodurans, Micrococcus luteus) and two fungal strains (Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger). These research
findings have established the potential of ligands and their metal
complexes as antimicrobial agents. Additionally, the compounds demonstrated
promising nonlinear optical (NLO) properties, with potential applications
across a wide range of contemporary technologies.