Metalloantibiotics: synthesis and antibacterial activity of cobalt(II), copper(II), nickel(II) and zinc(II) complexes of kefzol.

Kefzol (kzl), a beta-lactam antibiotic, possesses various donor sites for interaction with transition metal(II) ions [Co(II), Cu(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II)] to form complexes of the type [M(kzl)2]Cl2 and [M(kzl)Cl], with molar ratio of metal: ligand (M:L) of 1:2 and 1:1 respectively. These complexes were prepared and characterized by physicochemical and spectroscopic methods. Their IR and NMR spectra suggest that kefzol potentially acts as a bidentate, tridentate as well as monoanionic tetradentate ligand. The complexes have been screened for antibacterial activity and results were compared with the activity of the uncomplexed antibiotic against Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis. The metal complexes were found to be more potent against one or more bacterial species than the uncomplexed kefzol.