Silver(I) and gold(III) complexes with miconazole: The influence of the metal ion on the antimicrobial activity of the coordinated azole

To develop a new antimicrobial agent, we used the clinically approved antifungal azole, miconazole (mcz), as a ligand for the synthesis of silver(I) and gold(III) complexes. The new complexes [Ag(NO₃-O)(mcz-N)₂] (1) and [AuCl₃(mcz-N)] (2) were synthesized and characterized by ¹H NMR, IR and UV–Vis spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, while the crystal structure of 1 was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. From the results obtained, it can be concluded that in both complexes, mcz is monodentately coordinated to the silver(I) and gold(III) ions through the imidazole nitrogen atom N3. In the solid state, complex 1 contains two mcz ligands and monodentately coordinated nitrate in the third position, while in the case of 2 gold(III) ion is coordinated by one mcz and three chlorido ligands, resulting in the expected square-planar arrangement around the metal center. DFT and TDDFT calculations were employed to elucidate the electronic structures and thermodynamic stability of the synthesized complexes in solution to complement the experimental findings. The coordination of mcz to silver(I) and gold(III) ions leads to an enhancement of its activity against Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains, while against the panel of Staphylococcus aureus and Candida species, only 2 shows improved activity compared to mcz. Both complexes 1 and 2 were tested in vitro for their antimycobacterial activity against the strain Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and showed good growth inhibition with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 3.12 and 8.69 μM, respectively, with complex 1 being twice effective as mcz (MIC = 7.50 μM). Complex 2 significantly reduced the production of pyocyanin, a virulence factor in P. aeruginosa controlled by quorum sensing, while this effect was not observed for 1.