A new ligand (L) containing two nitro phenyl rings as side chains was synthesized. The reaction of this ligand with copper(II) and zinc(II) metal ions gave complexes with different coordination environments. The free ligand and the metal complexes were characterized using a number of spectroscopic methods. The crystal structure of [ZnLBr]showed that the Cu(II) ion is in a tetragonally distorted octahedral environment. Molecular docking studieswith human glutathione reductase (GR) showed that the dominant interactions of these compounds with GR were H-bonding, vander Waals and hydrophobic interactions. The antioxidant activity of the synthesized complexes was analyzed by the free radical scavenging activity using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assnyltetrazolium (MTT) assay. All compounds showed a dose-dependent inhibitory effect on the growth of breast cancer cells with the inhibition activity of [CuL](ClOay with [CuL](ClO with DNA indicated that the binding of L, [ZnLBr]being more active than the other synthesized com- pounds. Furthermore, results from the antibacterial activity screening of the compounds against two Gram- positive and Gram-negative pathogenic bacteria by the micro-broth dilution and disk diffusion methods indi- cated that [CuL](ClO
