Abstract Metal(II) coordination compounds of a hydrazone ligand (HL) derived from the condensation of cephalexin antibiotic with 2,6-diacetylpyridine bis(hydrazone) were synthesized. The hydrazone ligand and mononuclear [ML(H2O)2][PF6] (M(II) = Mn, Co, Ni, Zn) complexes were characterized by several techniques, including elemental and thermal analysis, molar conductance and magnetic susceptibility measurements, electronic, FT-IR, EPR and 1H NMR spectral studies. The cephalexin 2,6-diacetylpyridine bis(hydrazone) ligand HL behaves as a monoanionic tetradentate NNNO chelating agent. The biological applications of complexes have been studied on two bacteria strains (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) by agar diffusion disc method.