Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), spectra were recorded on an FTS 3000 MX spectrophotometer (Pakistan).
Infrared spectra were recorded in KBr pellets with a resolution of 2 cm À1 in the 4000-400 cm À1 range on a Bruker EQUINOX 55 FTIR spectrometer (Argentina). The FT-Raman spectra were recorded in the region 4000-100 cm À1 using a Bruker IFS 66v spectrometer equipped with Nd:YAG laser source operating at 1.064 lm line with 200 mW power of spectral width 2 cm À1 . UV-Vis spectra in DMSO solution were recorded using a standard quartz cell placed in the sample compartment of a UV-Vis Hewlett-Packard 8454-A diode array spectrometer (2 nm resolution).
Thermal analyses were performed with Shimadzu TGA-50 unit, between room temperature and 500 °C, at a heating rate of 5 °C/min and nitrogen flow of 50 ml/min.