Eco-Friendly Synthesis of an Oxovanadium(IV)-bis(abietate) Complex with Antimicrobial Action

The search for less expensive and viable products is always one of the challenges for research development. Commonly, the synthesis of coordination compounds involves expensive ligands, through expensive and low-yield routes, in addition to generating toxic and unusable residues. In this work, the organic ligand used is derived from the resin of a reforestation tree, Pinus elliottii var. elliottii. The synthesis method used Pinus resin and an aqueous solution of vanadium(III) chloride at a temperature of 80 °C. The procedure does not involve organic solvents and does not generate toxic residues, thus imparting the complex formation reaction a green chemistry character. The synthesis resulted in an unprecedented oxovanadium(IV)-bis(abietate) complex, which was characterized by mass spectrometry (MS), chemical analysis (CHN), vibrational (FTIR) and electronic spectra (VISIBLE), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermal analysis (TG/DTA). Colorimetric studies were performed according to the CIELAB color space. The structural formula found, consisted of a complex containing two abietate ligands, [VO(C20H29O2)2]. The VO(IV)-bis(abietate) complex was applied against microorganisms and showed promising results in antibacterial and antifungal activity. The best result of inhibitory action was against the strains of Gram-positive bacteria S. aureus and L. monocytogenes, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 62.5 and 125 μmol L−1, respectively. For Gram-negative strains the results were 500 μmol L−1 for E. coli; and 1000 μmol L−1 for Salmonella enterica Typhimurium. Antifungal activity was performed against Candida albicans, where the MIC was 15.62 μmol L−1, and for C. tropicalis it was 62.5 μmol L−1. According to the MFC analysis, the complex presented, in addition to the fungistatic action, a fungicidal action, as there was no growth of fungi on the plates tested. The results found for the tests demonstrate that the VO(IV)-bis(abietate) complex has great potential as an antimicrobial and mainly antifungal agent. In this way, the pigmented ink with antimicrobial activity could be used in environments with a potential risk of contamination, preventing the spread of microorganisms harmful to health.