Synthesis,characterization, and antimicrobial activities of Cu(I), Ag(I), Au(I), and Co(II) complexes with [CH3N(CH2PPh2)2]

Transition metal complexes of ditertiary aminomethylphosphine ligand, (Ph₂PCH₂)NCH₃ N,N‐bis(diphenylphospinomethyl)aminomethane], dppam, with metal ions which are Ag(I), Au(I), Cu(I), and Co(II) have been synthesized under nitrogen atmosphere by the Schlenk method. Ag(dppam)₂]NO₃ ( 1 ), Au(dppam)₂]Cl ( 2 ), and Cu(dppam)₂]Cl ( 3 ) complexes have been isolated as colorless solids, whereas CoCl₂(dppam)] ( 4 ) complex as a blue solid. All complexes have been characterized by atomic absorption, FT‐IR, NMR (¹H, ¹³C, ³¹P) spectroscopic, thermogravimetric/differantial thermal analysis (TG/DTA), and elemental analysis techniques. Antimicrobial activity of 1 , 2 , 3 , and 4 were studied in vitro on 13 bacteria and 4 yeasts. The cobalt(II) phosphine complex has shown the best antimicrobial activity in comparison with the other metal complexes. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 16:484–491, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/hc.20145