Synthesis a group of 5(6)‐substituted benzimidazole Zn(II) and Co(II) complexes and investigation their cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities

Abstract A series of 5(6)‐substituted benzimidazole ligand‐zinc(II) and cobalt(II) complexes were synthesized and characterized by 1 H, 13 C NMR, IR, CHN analysis techniques. In vitro, anticancer and antimicrobial activities of ligand and complexes were evaluated. The cytotoxic activities of compounds were investigated against the human lung adenocarcinoma (A549) cell lines and healthy human lung bronchial epithelium (BEAS2B) cells. Compounds 1 , 6 , and 8 were observed to exhibit higher cytotoxic activity than the others at the 72nd hour. Also, the compounds showed varying degrees of antimicrobial activity against the microorganisms used. Compounds 1 , 5 , and 8 were most effective against standard strains Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213. As for the antifungal activity, compounds 1 , 5 , 6 , and 8 showed high antifungal activity against the yeast type fungi Candida albicans ATCC 90028 and Candida tropicalis .