Some polyhydroxy azo–azomethine derivatives of salicylaldehyde: Synthesis, characterization, spectroscopic, molecular structure and antimicrobial activity studies

Some new substituted polyhydroxy azo–azomethine compounds were prepared by reaction of tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane with (E)-2-hydroxy-5-(phenyldiazenyl) benzaldehyde and its substituted derivatives. The structures of azo and azo–azomethine compounds were determined by IR, UV–vis, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR spectroscopic techniques, and/or X-ray diffraction studies. According to IR spectra, all azo–azomethine compounds adopt keto form in solid state. UV–vis analysis has shown the presence of keto–enol tautomerism in solution for all azo–azomethine compounds, except that for nitro substituted derivative, enol form is dominantly favored in solution. At the same time, above mentioned derivative compounds were studied in vitro for their antimicrobial properties. Among the phenylazosalicylaldehyde series compound tested, 4-phenylazosalicylaldehyde, 4-(3-chlorophenylazo)salicylaldehyde, 4-(2-chlorophenylazo)salicylaldehyde, 4-(4-fluorophenylazo)salicylaldehyde, 4-(3-chlorophenylazo)salicylaldehyde and 4-(4-ethylphenylazo)salicylaldehyde showed a weak antimicrobial activity only against gram positive bacteria. On the contrary, phenylazosalicylaldehyde series compounds were reacted tris(hydroxmethyl)aminomethane, that exhibited a strong antimicrobial activity against gram positive bacteria, yeast and mould. Moreover, while the 2-{1,3-dihydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)propan-2-ylimino]methyl}phenol did not show an inhibition on tested microorganism, the addition of phenyldiazine groups to 2-{1,3-dihydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)propan-2-ylimino]methyl}phenol resulted in a strong increases in antimicrobial activity.