A new Schiff base metal complex bis[(p-bromophenyl-salicylaldiminato) chloro]iron(III) [Cl(C13H9NOBr)2Fe] and its ligand (N-(4-bromo)-salicylaldimine) have been synthesized. The title complex and its ligand have been characterized by elemental analysis, IR technique, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. It is found that the investigated compounds have solvatochromic behavior, implying rather well molecular first hyperpolarizability. The ab initio molecular orbital calculations (FF MP2) of the synthesized compounds have been carried out to compute the electric dipole moment (D) and the first hyperpolarizability (β) values. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.