In this study, the new Schiff base ligands derived from condensation of amine and 5-bromo-salicylaldehyde were characterized. All compounds, the Schiff bases and the metal complexes, were characterized by elemental analyzes, FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The synthesized ligands, along with their metal (II) complexes, were screened for their in vitro antibacterial activity against four Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Salmonella enteritidis) and four Gram-positive (Streptococcus pyogones, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillinresistant S. aureus) bacterial strains by using disc diffusion and broth microdilution techniques. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were calculated by microplate reader at 620 nm to optimum result. It was found that all compounds showed mild to moderate antibacterial activity and the Schiff base ligands had a better antibacterial activity than their complexes. © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.