Regular irrigation activities occurring within Kofa Sauri and Lambun Dan-Lawal
localities that serve as the sources of vegetable farming to the people of Katsina metropolis and the
sewage from Youth Craft Village that is channeling down through the waterways neighboring the
later might affect the well-water and the vegetables grown in these affected areas. This motivates the
research to identify the ability of the Schiff bases to react with the metal ions expected to be present
in the contaminated water. The Schiff base was obtained from the condensation of 2-(piperazin-1-
yl)ethanamine and malonic acid to produce bis(2-(piperazin-1-yl)ethyl)malonimidic acid (yields 79.83%,
C15H30N6O2.) The metal-ligand complexes were formed by reacting this compound with the heavy
metals present in wastewater samples obtained from Kofar Sauri (KS), Lambun Dan Lawal (LDL) and
Youth Craft Village (YCV) irrigation areas of Katsina metropolis. The compounds were characterized
by testing their solubilities, Melting/Decomposition temperatures, Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR)
and molar conductance. The ligand showed a signal at 1611cm-1 due to azomethine which is attributed
to the formation of the ligand. This signal shifted to the lower frequencies of 1547cm-1, 1585cm-1 and
1599cm-1 on reaction with the wastewaters obtained from KS, LDL, and YCV complexes respectively.
Atomic absorption spectroscopy analysis of KS, LDL, and YCV complexes showed the presence of Fe,
Cd, Co, and Pb at various concentrations. This demonstrates the possible coordination of the ligand
with heavy metals present in the wastewaters.
Keywords: Synthesis, Schiff base, complexes, wastewater
