In Vitro Cytotoxicity of Zinc(II) Complexes: Synthesis, Characterization, and Biological Potential

Three new complexes, namely BP1, GP1, and FP1 were synthesized by interacting metal zinc with benzoic acid, gluconic acid, and folic acid (BL1, GL1, and FL1), respectively. Elemental analysis, Infrared (IR) spectroscopy, thermal analysis (TGA), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were employed for the thorough characterization of the complexes. The thermal breakdown mechanism of the compounds was studied using TGA/DSC and DTA. The decomposition process was found to occur in one step for BL1 and two steps for BP1 and GP1, with thermal degradation at 150–270 °C, 150–470 °C,120–600 °C, and percentage weight loss is 98.3, 70.7, and 51.04%, respectively. The complex BP1 crystallized in the monoclinic system, with lattice parameters a = 7.9721 Å, b = 14.7279 Å, c = 9.5524 Å, and α = 91.755° and crystallinity of the material is 61.49%. Biological data revealed that both GL1 and GP1 had the highest anticancer activity (119.68 ± 1.16, and 70.31 ± 8.34), respectively while in antibacterial activity GL1 (12.33 ± 1.53 mm), and GP1 (12.5 ± 0.5 mm) show maximum inhibition against S. Aureus and BL1 (12.67 ± 1.15 mm), and BP1 (9.17 ± 0.29 mm) has highest inhibition against E. coli 12.67 ± 1.15 mm.