Schiff base rare earth metal complexes: Studies on functional, optical and thermal properties and assessment of antibacterial activity

We used the condensation chemistry with anthracene‑9‑carbaldehyde and 3,4‑diaminopyridine to form Schiff base (SB) ligand, N²,N³‑bis (anthracen‑9‑ylmethylene) pyridine‑3,4‑diamine incorporating Er, Pr and Yb rare earth metals to form a series of SB complexes. Surface, structure, thermal, and optical properties of the resulting complexes were investigated using a variety of tools. The characteristic luminescence properties were observed after rare earth metal inclusions in SB. Antibacterial studies were performed against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in terms of zone of inhibition for SB complexes. The SB-Pr complexes showed better immune behavior against all the pathogens than the other SB metal complexes.