ANTIMICROBIAL AND GENOTOXIC ACTIVITY OF 2,6-DIACETYLPYRIDINE BIS(ACYLHYDRAZONES) AND THEIR COMPLEXES WITH SOME FIRST TRANSITION SERIES METAL-IONS - X-RAY CRYSTAL-STRUCTURE OF A DINUCLEAR COPPER(II) COMPLEX

The antibacterial and antifungal properties of five 2,6-diacetylpyridi ne bis(acylhydrazones) (acyl: benzoyl, H(2)dapb; 2-aminobenzoyl, H(2)d apab; salicyloyl, H(2)daps; picolinoyl, H(2)dappc; 2-thenoyl, H(2)apt) and of a series of metal complexes were investigated. The x-ray cryst al structure of the [Cu(dapt)](2) complex was also determined. It cons ists of dimeric units in which both copper atoms have sixfold coordina tion. The evaluation of in vitro antimicrobial properties showed some compounds to exhibit good activity against Gram positive bacteria. In most cases, complexes showed a similar or reduced activity as compared to the ligand itself. Only the iron complexes were found to be more a ctive than the chelating agent involved. None of the compounds showed any significant antifungal activity. The genotoxicity of the compounds described was studied in vitro with Bacillus subtilis rec-assay and S almonella-microsome reversion assay. No DNA-damaging activity was dete cted in the Bacillus subtilis rec-assay. H(2)dapb, H(2)dapab, and H(2) dappc were active in the Salmonella test. In several cases, the genoto xic properties of the ligands disappeared in the complexes.