Synthesis, Structural Investigations, and Potential Antimicrobial and Anticancer Activity of Mononuclear Zn(II) and Cd(II) Complexes Decorated by Morpholine/Pyrazole <i>s</i>‐Triazine Ligand

ABSTRACT The structure and biological diversities of [Zn(BPT Morph )(H 2 O) 3 ](ClO 4 ) 2 ( 1 ), [Zn(BPT Morph )(NO 3 ) 2 ] ( 2 ), and [Cd(BPT Morph )(NO 3 ) 2 ] ( 3 ) complexes were described. In all complexes, the Zn(II) and Cd(II) ions are coordinated with one 4‐(4,6‐ bis (3,5‐dimethyl‐1 H ‐pyrazol‐1‐yl)‐1,3,5‐triazin‐2‐yl)morpholine ( BPT Morph ) molecule as a pincer NNN ‐chelate. The rest of the coordination sphere was found to depend on the type of anion. In 1 , there are three coordinated water molecules leading to a distorted octahedral geometry around Zn(II). In 2 and 3 , there are two coordinated NO 3 − groups that differ in their coordination modes. The two NO 3 − groups are monodentate in 1 and bidentate in 3 . Hence, the coordination numbers of Zn(II) and Cd(II) are 5 and 7, respectively. Supramolecular structure investigations indicated the importance of O···H contacts in the molecular packing. The percentages of O···H contacts are 35.4%–36.1%, 44.8%, and 39.7% in complexes 1 – 3 , respectively. The energy breakdown for the intermolecular interactions was performed using energy framework analysis to explore the forces that dominate these interactions. Anticancer activity of complexes 1 – 3 and BPT Morph against HepG‐2, MCF‐7, and A‐549 cancerous cells was presented. The best result is found for complex 3 against A‐549 where the IC 50 is 2.77 ± 0.26 μg/mL and selectivity index is 12.5 although the corresponding values for BPT Morph are 32.39 ± 2.82 μg/mL and 2.7, respectively. In addition, 3 outperformed the anticancer drug cis ‐platin against all cell lines. The antimicrobial activity of 3 is the best compared to 1 , 2 , and BPT Morph . Interestingly, 3 showed antibacterial efficiency comparable to gentamycin against Proteus vulgaris .