Antibacterial Activity of Amidodithiophosphonato Nickel(II) Complexes: An Experimental and Theoretical Approach.

The reactions of 2,4-bis(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,3-dithio-2,4-diphosphetane-2,4-disulfide (Lawesson's Reagent, LR) with benzylamine (BzNH) and 4-phenylbutylamine (PhBuNH) yield benzylammonium -(4-methoxyphenyl)--benzyl-amidodithiophosphonate (BzNH)(BzNH-adtp) and 4-phenylbutylammonium -(4-methoxyphenyl)--(4-phenylbutyl)-amidodithiophosphonate (PhBuNH)(PhBuNH-adtp). The relevant nickel complexes [Ni(BzNH-adtp)] and [Ni(PhBuNH-adtp)] and the corresponding hydrolysed derivatives (BzNH)[Ni(dtp)] and (PhBuNH)[Ni(dtp)] were prepared and fully characterized. The antimicrobial activity of the aforementioned amidodithiophosphonates against a set of Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogen bacteria was evaluated, and [Ni(BzNH-adtp)] and [Ni(PhBuNH-adtp)] showed antiproliferative activity towards and strains. density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to shed some light on the activity of reported compounds related to their tendency towards P-N bond cleavage.