Exploring novel coral reef-like RuO2 oxides: Synthesis and physicochemical characterizations of gatifloxacin-based Ru(III) complexes

ABSTRACT. Two mixed-ligand complexes of Ru(III) ions were synthesized and used to generate nanostructured RuO2 oxide. Complex A contains gatifloxacin (L1), the amino acid glycine (L2), and Ru(III) ions in a 1:1:1 ratio. Complex B contains gatifloxacin (L1), the amino acid alanine (L3), and Ru(III) ions in a 1:1:1 ratio. The synthesized complexes were characterized using UV-Visible and IR spectroscopies, molar conductance, elemental analyses, thermogravimetry, XRD, and SEM-EDX techniques. In both complexes, the L1 ligand acts as a bidentate and uses the nitrogen atoms of the piperazine ring to capture the Ru(III) ions, while the L2 and L3 ligands capture the Ru(III) ions using their oxygen atom of the carboxylate group and the nitrogen atom of the amino group. The atmosphere around the Ru(III) ion is octahedral, and the complexes were formulated as [RuL1L2(H2O)2]Cl2 and [RuL1L3(H2O)2]Cl2 for Complex A and Complex B, respectively. Complex A was directly decomposed in air at 600 °C for 3 h to produce RuO2 oxide (Oxide A), and complex B was decomposed under the same conditions to produce RuO2 oxide (Oxide B). Morphologically, oxide A and oxide B have a coral reef-like texture with large holes and cavities. KEY WORDS: Gatifloxacin, Ru(III) ion, Glycine, Alanine, Morphology, RuO2 oxide Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2023, 37(6), 1443-1457. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v37i6.12