A new vic-dioxime ligand bearing an important pharmacophore substituent, anti-1-(4-benzylpiperazine-1-yl) phenylglyoxime (LH2) (Scheme 1), has been synthesized and its nickel(II) complex was obtained by the reaction of NiCl2·6H2O and the ligand. The characterization of the newly formed compounds was performed by elemental analysis, FT-IR, 1D NMR (1H, 13C, DEPT), 2D NMR (HMBC), ESI mass-spectrometry, TG/DTA, X-ray crystallography. The antibacterial activity was also studied against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Streptococcus mutans RSHM 676, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Lactobacillus acidophilus RSHM 06029, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, E. coli ATCC 35218, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853. The antimicrobial test results indicated that all the compounds have mild antibacterial activity against both Gram negative and Gram positive bacterial species. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.