V.B. Nagaveni^1,, G.L. Aruna^2,*, and K.M. Mahadevan^3,

¹Department of Chemistry, Government Science College, Chitradurga-577501, India

²Post-Graduate Department of Microbiology, Maharani’s Science College for Women, Mysore-570005, India

³Department of Chemistry, Kuvempu University, P.G. Centre, Kadur-577548, India

*Corresponding author: E-mail: microarunagl@gmail.com

Schiff bases such as 4-{[(2-hydroxyphenyl)methylidene]amino}benzoic acid (SB1-SB3) have been synthesized by the condensation of mole equivalent of 4-amino benzoic acid and various substituted salicylaldehyde. The synthesized compounds SB1-SB3 were analyzed by FT-IR, ¹H NMR and mass spectroscopy techniques. Light emitting properties of the compounds have been studied by photoluminescence (PL) and diffuse reflectance (DR) spectra. Photoluminescence spectra of the compounds SB1-SB3 revealed that these molecules emit light from bright yellow to orange red colour following exposure to UV light. From diffuse reflectance spectra, the measured optical band energy for Schiff base compounds SB1-SB3 was found to be 2.14, 2.06 and 2.26 eV, respectively. This study revealed that the Schiff base derivatives of substituted salicylaldehyde become promising material for light emitting devices. The antibacterial activity of Schiff base compounds were screened by using Kirby-Bauer diffusion method. The results revealed that the all the synthesized compounds exhibit potent antimicrobial activity.

4-Aminobenzoic acid, Schiff base, Photoluminescence, Light emission, Kirby-Bauer diffusion method.