Abstract

Air stable silver Ag(I) complexes of pyrimethamine and trimethoprim drugs have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and ultraviolet visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, and conductivity measurement. The metal complexes formed a three and four coordinate geometry with the ligands acting as a monodentate molecule bonding to the silver ion in each case through the pyrimidine N (1) nitrogen. The complexes have non-electrolyte behaviour in dimethylformamide (DMF) solution with its low conductivity values. Silver complexes, their free ligands alongside the corresponding silver salts were screened against selected bacterial isolates. All the silver complexes showed enhanced antibacterial activities compared to their free ligands and potential antibacterial agents have been identified.

Key words: Pyrimethamine, trimethoprim, silver complexes, antibacterial screening, minimum inhibitory concentration.