2D Bipyrimidine silver(I) nitrate: Synthesis, X-ray structure, solution chemistry and anti-microbial activity

Synthesis and X-ray single crystal structure analysis of the compound {[Ag2(μ2-bpym)(μ-O-NO3)2]}n, (1), (where bpym = 2,2′-bipyrimidine) are presented. Compound (1) has a (6,3)-2D honeycomb structure with a tetrahedral coordination geometry around the Ag(I) ion. In contrary to the solid state structural investigation, ESI-MS for (1) in solution shows a strong peak at m/z 423.0269 which indicates that the [Ag(bpym)2]+ cation is dominating instead of [Ag2(bpym)]2+. The anti-microbial activity of (1) was screened against 15 multi-drug resistant bacteria in comparison to silver(I) sulphadiazine and it showed a high activity against Burkholderia mallei which causes glanders; with a MIC value of 4 μg/ml.