Synthesis and anti-Candida activity of copper(II) and manganese(II) carboxylate complexes -: X-ray crystal structures of [Cu(sal)(bipy)]•C2H5OH•H2O and [Cu(norb)(phen)2]•6.5H2O (salH2 = salicylic acid, norbH2 = cis-5-norbornene-endo-2,3-dicarboxylic acid;: bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine;: phen = 1,10-phenanthroline)

The copper(II) complexes [Cu(salH)(2)(H2O)(2)]. 0.5H(2)O (1) (salH(2) = salicylic acid) and [Cu-2(asp)(4)]. 3H(2)O (8) {aspH = acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin)} both react with imidazole (imid), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) and 2,2'-bipyridine (bipy) giving [Cu(sal)(imid)] (2), [Cu(sal)(phen)] (3) and [Cu(sal)(bipy)]. C2H5OH . H2O (4), CuCl2. 2H(2)O reacts with cis-5-norbomene-eildo-2,3-dicarboxylic acid (norbH(2)) and NaOH giving [Cu(norb)]. H2O (9), Complexes 4 and 9 were crystallographically characterised. The above complexes, together with the related manganese(II) complexes, [Mn-2(salH)(4)(H2O)(4)] (5), [Mn(salH),(phen)] (6), [Mn(salH)(2)(bipy)]. H2O (7), [Mn(norb)H2O] (11) and [Mn(norb)(phen)(2)]. C2H5OH . H2O (12) and also the metal-foe ligands were screened for their ability to inhibit the growth of the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans. I,0-Phenanthroline and the phenanthroline complexes 6, 10b and 12 exhibited high anti-Candida activity with the manganese complexes 6 and 12 being the most potent. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.