Synthesis, structural characterisation and biological activity of new coordination compounds with polychelate ligand incorporating carbonyl and ether oxygen sites

The development of synthetic approaches in the formation of bis-functionalised molecules played a vital role in the progress of modern synthetic chemistry and materials sciences. In addition, their role in the field of biology, and the industry [1-3] sector and serving as building blocks in the field of supramolecular chemistry and nanotechnology are reported [4,5]. Aromatic functionalised compounds bearing the carbonyl group, aldehydes and ketones, are crucial materials in the cosmetic, pharmaceuticals, food technology and fragrance industry [1,2]. These aromatic compounds play a role in chemical synthesis as they are essential in the synthesis of natural products and Schiff bases, upon condensation with primary amines [6-10]. Accordingly, experimental synthetic work has focused on the generating of bis-aldehyde compounds via several approaches, including the synthesis of bisaldehyde through the Vilsmarick-Haack reaction [11] and by reacting an aldehyde with the dibromoalkyl reagent in an alkaline medium. Specifically, the preparation of 2,2'-[ethane-1,2-diylbis(oxy)]-dibenzaldehyde (EDD), which represents an excellent reagent in organic synthesis. Therefore, researchers have explored different reaction conditions for the effective synthesis of EDD aiming to optimise yield and other parameters including solvent and alkaline medium [12,13]. As EDD may find applications in coordination chemistry, Schiff bases derived from EDD are interesting ligands used for metal complexation [12]. Recently, we investigated the formation of coordination compounds derived from EDD, in which the ether and carbonyl oxygen sites are essential for metal coordination. This study highlights the potential of EDD as a complexing agent, focusing on the role of oxygen groups in complexation [4].