Study in Aqueous Solutions of Bioactive 2-Pyridineformamide-Derived Thiosemicarbazones and Their Iron(II) and Iron(III) Complexes

The binary systems of iron(II) and iron(III) with 2-pyridineformamide thiosemicarbazone (H2Am4DH) and its N(4)-methyl (H2Am4Me), N(4)-ethyl (H2Am4Et) and N(4)-phenyl (H2Am4Ph) derivatives were studied in aqueous solution by pH-potentiometry, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy and EPR spectra. The formation constants of the iron(II) and iron(III) complexes were calculated from potentiometric and electronic absorption data at 25 °C and ionic strength μ = 0.1 mol·L^?1 using the HYPERQUAD program. The values of the formation constant of the FeL species decrease in the order Fe:H2Am4DH > Fe:H2Am4Me ≈ Fe:H2Am4Et > Fe:H2Am4Ph in the same way as the basicity of the ligands. The species distribution diagrams show that the species FeL₂ predominates at physiological pH in the Fe:H2Am4DH, Fe:H2Am4Me and Fe:H2Am4Et systems. The similar EPR spectra of these iron(III) binary systems indicate the same coordination spheres around the metallic center and the EPR g values suggests that the unpaired electron is in the d_xy orbital, indicating a d _xz ² d _yz ² d _xy ¹ ground state configuration for the complexes. For the Fe(III):H2Am4Ph system the EPR results indicated dimerization and antiferromagnetic interaction due to the presence of only one thiosemicarbazone ligand around the metallic center.